Lignocellulosics to biofuels: An overview of recent and relevant advances

One of the biggest challenges of current times is to reduce the global dependence on fossil fuels. In this scenario, several approaches have been taken to implement efficient processes of biofuel generation from lignocellulosic materials. Here, some of the most recent relevant results are presented. The waste valorization, design of new/more efficient catalysts, the improvement of characteristics by genetic engineering organisms, and the development of new and/or step integration processes, among other possibilities, are important tools to increase and make more relevant the role of renewable fuels in the global energy matrix.