The increased concern for the security of the oil supply
and the negative impact of fossil fuels on the environment,
particularly greenhouse gas emissions, has put
pressure on society to find renewable fuel alternatives.
The most common renewable fuel today is ethanol
produced from sugar or grain (starch); however, this
raw material base will not be sufficient. Consequently,
future large-scale use of ethanol will most certainly have
to be based on production from lignocellulosic materials.
This review gives an overview of the new technologies
required and the advances achieved in recent years
to bring lignocellulosic ethanol towards industrial production.
One of the major challenges is to optimize the
integration of process engineering, fermentation technology,
enzyme engineering and metabolic engineering.