Opportunities for utilization of non-conventional energy sources for biomass pretreatment

The increasing concerns over the depletion of fossil resources and its associated geo-political issues have driven the entire world to move toward sustainable forms of energy. Pretreatment is the first step in any biochemical conversion process for the production of valuable fuels/chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass to eliminate the lignin and produce fermentable sugars by hydrolysis. Conventional techniques have several limitations which can be addressed by using them in tandem with non-conventional methods for biomass pretreatment. Electron beam and gamma (gamma)-irradiation, microwave and ultrasound energies have certain advantages over conventional source of energy and there is an opportunity that these energies can be exploited for biomass pretreatment. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.