Strategies for Enhanced Biogas Generation through Anaerobic Digestion of Forest Material – An Overview

Incorporation of biofuels into the existing selection of fuels is a very important measure to slow down environmental destruction and to counter the imminent fossil fuel shortage. Biogas is a very interesting option for use in both electricity and heat production, and also as a fuel for vehicles. The positive fuel characteristics of biogas and the high yields of biogas obtained from traditional raw materials (e.g., animal manure) have resulted in operation of several commercial units around the globe. On the other hand, there is an increased demand for biogas production which, for the need to be met, should have renewable resources incorporated into it. Forest materials are an interesting candidate, and there is a rising interest in the research and industrial communities to exploit them as raw materials for anaerobic digestion in biogas production. In this review article, we aim to give the reader an insight into the most recent processes for conversion of various sources of forest materials into biogas.