**1. Introduction**

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‐ cally competitive, if not advantageous [2].

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 field of research are also described.
