Development of Biofuel Production via Biomass Gasification Process

Currently, environmental issues and the need to replace existing power generation facilities have shifted the focus of gasification development from non-renewable fossil fuel sources to renewable fuel sources, mainly biomass. However, there is a strong preference for the use of woody biomass and various forest/agricultural residues as the feedstock. Thus, the production of second generation of bio-automotive fuels i.e. synthetic fuels such as methanol, ethanol, synthetic natural gas (SNG) and hydrogen through biomass gasification seems promising. The technology of producing synthetic fuels is well established based on fossil fuels. For biomass, however, it is fairly new and the technology is under development. Starting from the present market of the first generation bio-automotive fuels, this study is giving a short review the technology developed of biomass gasification. The production of syngas is emphasized which suggests appropriate gasifier design for a high quality syngas production.