---

The perception that civilization is crossing a period of Global Climatic Changes that can seriously threaten our lifestyle, along with energy security and the search for prosperity, are the main drivers that are pushing men to use more biomass as a source of energy. It will be crucial that such intent will include a large parcel of sustainability so that more renewable energy becomes available for populations. Because large amounts of energy are "hidden" in carbon polymers made by plants, notably carbohydrates, it is obvious that if technologies are developed to produce liquid fuels such as ethanol from carbohydrate polymers such as cellulose, men could significantly increase energy sustainability . This book reviews general aspects of biomass utilization for bioenergy production as well as strategies using biochemistry, molecular biology, chemistry and physics to disassemble plant cell walls. Recent discoveries of basic science under development in several laboratories in the world are reviewed by experts that have been intensively working with many aspects that will impact the development of the technology of production of cellulosic ethanol.

---

Routes to Cellulosic Ethanol
Editors: Marcos S Buckeridge & Gustavo H Goldman

Bioenergy

The role of biomass in the world´s energy system
Jose Goldemberg
Bioenergy and the Sustainable Revolution
Wanderley D. dos Santos1, Edgardo O. Gómez and Marcos S. Buckeridge
Biomass gasification for ethanol production
L. A. Horta Nogueira, J. E.A. Seabra and I.C. Macedo

Plant cell walls, enzymes and metabolism

Hemicelluloses as Recalcitrant Components for Saccharification in Wood
Takahisa Hayashi and Rumi Kaida
Topochemistry, porosity and chemical composition affecting enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials
Adriane M. F. Milagres, Walter Carvalho, Andre Ferraz
Enzymology of plant cell wall breakdown: an update
Moreira, L. R. S., Milanezi, vG. N., Filho, E. X. F.
Enzymes in Bioenergy
Viviane Isabel Serpa and Igor Polikarpov
Hydrolases from microorganisms used for degradation of plant cell wall and bioenergy production
Maria de Lourdes T. M. Polizeli, Emanuelle Corbi Corrêa, Aline Moraes Polizeli and JoÆo Atílio Jorge
Cellulase Engineering for Biomass Saccarification
Richard J. Ward
Genetic improvement of xylose utilization by Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Gustavo H. Goldman

Plant cell wall genetics

Tropical Maize - Exploiting maize genetic diversity to develop a novel annual crop for lignocellulosic biomass and sugar production
Wendy G. White, Stephen P. Moose, Clifford F. Weil, Maureen C. McCann, Nicholas C. Carpita
Sugarcane breeding and selection of sugar cane with higher lignocellulosic ethanol production
Marcelo Ehlers Loureiro, Marcio Henrique Pereira Barbosa, Francis Julio Fagundes Lopes, Flaviano Oliveira Silvério
Cell Wall Genomics in the Recombinogenic Moss Physcomitrella patens
Michael A. Lawton

---