**Author details**

*Biotechnological Applications of Biomass*

biomass cell wall were considered [48, 49].

fossil fuels to the environment.

clean, sustainable and renewable source of energy.

**3. Conclusion**

conditions. The extent of fermentation on organic substances largely depends on composition and structure of the biomass feedstock. Only feedstocks that are not competing with the food items in terms of demand should be selected for biofuel production. Consequently, residues and waste materials from agriculture and

High hydrolysis ratio is also an important requirement for the effective utilization of monosugars present in lignocellulosic structures. From biochemical perspective, organic substances present in the hydrolyzed solution can be categorized into several groups such as simple and complex carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and heteropolymers. The potentials for biogas and biohydrogen generation from lignocellulosic biomass is huge due to utilization of different microorganisms in the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulosic fractions of the agricultural and forestry residues [47]. However, a major setback is usually encountered during biofuels production which is the conversion ratio of the polymeric substances into fermentable sugars like hexoses and pentoses due to production of inhibitors along with the desired products. To minimize such inhibitors and maximize hexoses and pentoses production, microbial metabolism in the degradation and saccharification of the

Currently, the use of lignocellulosic biomass as raw material for the generation of bioenergy has received a considerable attention for the development of sustainable ways for production of energy. Most of the researches conducted for biomass conversion technologies heads towards discovery of advanced ways to produce energy fuels so as to tackle its shortage that the world is facing. Also, the studies are aimed towards reduction of greenhouse gases and other harmful effects posed by

From above, it can be concluded that biomass is a green source of energy in recent times. The study also indicated that thermochemical and biochemical technologies for the conversion of biomass into different energy products was started several decades ago, but it slowed down due to the discovery of fossil fuels. The biomass conversion technologies gained momentum recently due the fact that it is

forestry were considered as the most interesting sources of biomass.

**14**

Abdurrahman Garba Department of Chemistry, Al-Qalam University Katsina, Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria

\*Address all correspondence to: agarba2008@yahoo.com

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
