Abstract
The environmental impact of fossil fuels alongside the competition of agricultural land and water for the production of food versus that of first generation biofuels has led to great interest in improving second and third generation biofuel production. Lignocellulosic materials are the essential feedstock for second generation biofuels and vary according to the residing country and regions. At present, the biorefinery systems established to degrade the various lignocellulose feedstocks are expensive and inefficient. The stages in the biorefinery process include pre-treatment of the feedstock, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fermentation and possess various optimum temperatures and pH. Interest has turned to the role of fungi and various extracellular enzymes involved in the enzymatic hydrolysis of the lignocellulosic components, namely hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. This review chapter discusses the leading enzymes involved in the production of biofuels, how they penetrate barriers within the biorefinery systems and their potential in the development of new production strategies.
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