Prospects and technological advancement of cellulosic bioethanol ecofuel production

Energy security, rapid depletion of fossil fuels and the huge greenhouse gas emission from the utilization of fossil fuels are the growing concerns in today's world. Bioethanol is considered as one of the attractive ecofuel due to its environmental sustainability and renewability over fossil fuels. So far cellulosic ethanol (second generation) production has gained attention at commercial scale over the other feedstocks such as first, third and fourth generation as it has no impact on food security. Third and fourth generation bioethanol technologies are in the immature stage and need further research. In this study, an outline of the systematic development of bioethanol production has been presented. The advancements in bioethanol technology and the status of installed commercial/pilot/demonstration scale plants based on lignocellulosic feedstocks all over the world have been highlighted. Finally, we have tried to underline the issues and challenges associated with the commercial scale production of cellulosic ethanol.