Impact of Pretreatment Technology on Cellulosic Availability for Fuel Production

Cellulosic substrates represent an attractive source for the production of renewable energies such as biofuels. However, the rigid structure of most of these substrates characterized by the presence of lignin presents an obstacle for their bioconversion. Therefore, a pretreatment step aimed at the degradation of these cellulosic feedstocks making the cellulose available to hydrolysis is required for biofuels production. This crucial step influences the whole biofuels production process as well as co-products. Currently, various pretreatment techniques have been developed. They affect the chemical composition and the physical structure of the biofuels substrates and increase hydrolysis rates. In this chapter, numerous pretreatment process methods for treatment of different lignocellulosic and algal biomasses are presented. Their impacts on these cellulosic substrates are demonstrated and their advantages and limitations are discussed.