Nanobiotechnological advancements in lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment
Anju Arora, Preeti Nandal, Jatinder Singh, Madan L. Verma
Abstract
Global energy demand is increased with the rapidly growing population; and it is fulfilled by fossil fuels. However, it also contributes to the greenhouse gas effect in the environment. In recent years, the rapid consumption of fossil fuels has resulted in its depletion, which raised the questions concerning the environment safety. The lignocellulosic biomass has emerged as an alternative solution for these problems. The lignocellulosic biomass is abundantly present on the earth, which can be transformed into bioethanol and/or biochemical products after some suitable pre-treatment methods include physical, chemical and biological methods. But these approaches have certain limitations as they are expensive and inconvenient. These limitations have been overcome by developing a new alternative novel, cost-effective, efficient and eco-friendly method i.e. nanotechnology which offers promising solution to the existing pre-treatment methods. In this review, various conventional pre-treatment methods and evolving nanobiotechnological routes in lignocellulosic pretreatment methods are critically discussed.