Second Generation Bioethanol Production: The State of Art

Second generation bioethanol from waste lignocellulosic biomass is a sustainable solution to the problems of diminishing petroleum reserves, issues over national security and environmental deterioration due to GHG emissions. The production of second generation bioethanol is a complex process and consist several steps including biomass pretreatment, saccharification of cellulosics followed by microbial fermentation and product recovery. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review the process steps of bioethanol production from plant biomass and their respective scope of improvement. Afterwards, the global and national status of bioethanol production and various policies governing its commercialization have also been dealt with. The chapter also summarizes the energy balance, mass balance, life cycle analysis studies and techno-economic evaluation of lignocellulosic bioethanol production carried out by various researchers. Moreover, the technological barriers and alternatives investigated to overcome the challenges in second generation bioethanol production process are also discussed.