**4. Conclusions**

Biomass is a valuable renewable and undervalued source of chemicals for use in the processing industry and can be used directly or indirectly to produce platform molecules or bioproducts by chemical, physical, microbial, or enzymatic treatments. Nowadays, biomass can be used for many purposes, such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, biofuels (biogas/bioethanol), or energy and fodder production, which contribute significantly to the economic growth of countries.

It should be noted that as urbanization increases, more waste will be generated by society, so the integral valorization of biomass is a fundamental pillar of sustainable development. Given the origin of this biomass, as well as its composition, biomass is a vast resource for society.

Due to the diversity that biomass presents in its chemical composition, biomass is a vast resource that requires research to further develop technologies and processes with a multidisciplinary approach. It should be noted that biomass pretreatment is a critical point in the production processes to achieve high yields and productivity. This is necessary to overcome the complete transition of our production systems from a petroleum-based economy to a bio-based economy.

### **Acknowledgements**

The author is grateful to the Autonomous University of Guadalajara for its support in the realization of this work.

*Valorization of Biomass as a Raw Material to Obtain Products of Industrial Interest DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104108*
