Status of availability of lignocellulosic feed stocks in India: Biotechnological strategies involved in the production of Bioethanol

Bioethanol, as a biofuel has got an exceptionally noticeable role in the world. It is a solution to the overwhelming reliance on petroleum based products, in terms of energy security, impact on environment and climatic change caused by vehicular pollution. There are many setbacks associated with the usage of petrol based resources. India, being agriculturally enriched, produces bountiful amounts of residues after harvest of the crop. Taking this into consideration, the review manly explains about the availability of agroresidues in India and emphasizing the requirement for pretreatment and saccharification methods like acidic and enzymatic techniques. The mode of action of these treatment methods on lignocellulosic wastes were also discussed. We also focused on the role of microorganisms in fermentation and the need for genetic engineering approach, with a detailed discussion on CBP and SSF of lignocellulosic material to ethanol. Finally, this article concludes with a brief investigation on biofuels from algae, an emerging technology for third generation biofuels.