Environmental and Economic Impacts of Biomass Liquid Fuel Conversion and Utilization—A Review

Abstract

Biomass liquid fuel, one of the most important renewable fuels, plays a key role in the energy development. This paper reviews the research progress in biomass liquid fuel conversion and utilization, environmental impact, and economic analysis. The application research of biomass liquid fuel currently focuses on the evaluation of substitution and emission reduction effect of a single component on fossil energy. While most studies confirm that biomass liquid fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emission and current energy shortage problems, the large-scale cultivation and use of energy crops may induce negative environmental impacts. And although second-generation biomass liquid fuel base on agricultural residues have potential development and considerable economic feasibility compared to fossil fuel, technological breakthroughs are required to reduce production costs and achieve large-scale promotion and application. Technological breakthroughs in the multi-product comprehensive utilization of biomass liquid fuel, raw material plants in the environment, establishment of economic analysis models, and economic quantification of ecological benefits will drive research directions in the future.