Technological Barriers in Biobutanol Production

Abstract

Abstract The depletion of fossil fuels coupled with ever-increasing pollution has driven people’s attention towards renewable energy sources such as biodiesel and bioalco hols. Among biofuels, biobutanol has emerged as a potential biofuel as a substitute for gasoline. The production of biobutanol comprises different tedious tasks and is hindered by a number of obstacles. Traditionally, biobutanol production by tradi tional ABE fermentation utilizing Clostridium acetobutylicum species suffers from limitations such as low butanol yields, solvent toxicity issues in the solventogenic phase to bacterial cell wall and cost of pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. Hence, the present review puts forth the discussion on existing limitations along with feasible solutions such as metabolic engineering approaches and utilization of solvent-tolerant microbial strains for an enhanced biobutanol production.