**2. Biomass feed-stocks for biorefinery applications**

Notably, biomass—organic matter that has stored energy through the process of photosyn‐ thesis—accounts for over 10% of global primary energy supply and is the world's fourth largest source of energy [3]. Thus, biomass in a variety of forms (solid stock, herbaceous matter, seeds, algae, biowaste, and crop residues) represents an abundant C-neutral renewable resource for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials [4].

While initial emphasis on biomass for biorefinery applications has been placed on biofuel production from fermentable feed-stocks, such as starch and sugar, resulting in an increasing demand for agricultural crops, such as maize and sugarcane, the drive to reduce the compe‐ tition between crop usage for food and non-food applications has promoted research efforts to access the less digestible saccharides in cell walls (lignocellulosics) [5]. This 'biorefining technology' of using cellulosic biomass as the feed-stock has not yet been fully commercialized because of high production cost. In addition, the bulky biomass harvested seasonally in rural areas poses a challenge to feed-stock logistics and storage. It is worth noting that the biorefinery technology has the same goals as today's petroleum refineries, namely the conversion of a raw material source (in this case biomass or bio-derived feed-stocks) into bio-based products, most commonly via microbial conversion of fermentable sugars derived from cellulose and, ideally, hemicelluloses [reviewed in 6]. Figure 1 outlines a scheme of the biorafinery concept.

Genetic Strategies to Enhance Plant Biomass Yield and Quality-Related Traits for Bio-Renewable Fuel and... http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/61005 101

**Figure 1.** Illustration of the biorefinery concept.

**1. Introduction**

100 Plants for the Future

cally competitive, if not advantageous [2].

field of research are also described.

**2. Biomass feed-stocks for biorefinery applications**

the production of bioenergy and biomaterials [4].

Current society and economy are largely dependent on petroleum as a source of many industrial products ranging from fuels to commodity and specialty chemicals. However, petroleum feed-stocks are limited and nonrenewable, and their broad use is also deeply contributing to unwanted increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations [1]. Therefore, there is at present increasing demand to develop and implement strategies for production of chemical commodities or platform molecules (see Glossary) from biomass instead of using petroleum. The drive towards bio-based products (such as fuels, chemicals, and plastics), which seeks to replace the conventional petrochemical processes with new technologies, must be economi‐

Advances in genetics, biotechnology, process chemistry, and engineering are leading to a new manufacturing concept to convert complex biomass into value-added products. In this context, emphasis has been placed upon the genetic improvement of plant biomass as a sustainable source of organic carbon (C) for the large-scale production of chemicals and materials. Accordingly, in this chapter we focus our attention on the potential of genetic and biotechno‐ logical strategies for improving plant biomass yields and quality-related traits to develop dedicated and highly specialized plant varieties that meet targeted applications and end-uses, maximizing the value throughout the whole bio-based value chain. Future perspectives in this

Notably, biomass—organic matter that has stored energy through the process of photosyn‐ thesis—accounts for over 10% of global primary energy supply and is the world's fourth largest source of energy [3]. Thus, biomass in a variety of forms (solid stock, herbaceous matter, seeds, algae, biowaste, and crop residues) represents an abundant C-neutral renewable resource for

While initial emphasis on biomass for biorefinery applications has been placed on biofuel production from fermentable feed-stocks, such as starch and sugar, resulting in an increasing demand for agricultural crops, such as maize and sugarcane, the drive to reduce the compe‐ tition between crop usage for food and non-food applications has promoted research efforts to access the less digestible saccharides in cell walls (lignocellulosics) [5]. This 'biorefining technology' of using cellulosic biomass as the feed-stock has not yet been fully commercialized because of high production cost. In addition, the bulky biomass harvested seasonally in rural areas poses a challenge to feed-stock logistics and storage. It is worth noting that the biorefinery technology has the same goals as today's petroleum refineries, namely the conversion of a raw material source (in this case biomass or bio-derived feed-stocks) into bio-based products, most commonly via microbial conversion of fermentable sugars derived from cellulose and, ideally,

hemicelluloses [reviewed in 6]. Figure 1 outlines a scheme of the biorafinery concept.
