The editor and publisher thank each of the authors who contributed to this book. The chapters in this book were previously published in various places in various formats. To cite the work contained in this book and to view the individual permissions, please refer to the citation at the begin­ning of each chapter. Each chapter was read individually and carefully selected by the editor; the result is a book that provides a nuanced look at the possibilities of a new generation of biofuels. The chapters included are broken into three sections, which describe the following topics:

• Chapter 1 describes some breakthroughs in analytical tools and synthetic approaches toward improved energy efficiency and catalyst stability.

• As a part of a basic overview of this topic, Chapter 2 looks at a range of processes and applications.

• Again as a part of a basic overview on the book’s topic, Chapter 3 offers insights into the various analytical methods that are useful for evaluating the efficiency of catalytic reactions in the transformation of biomass into usable fuel.

• The authors of Chapter 4 investigate the aqueous-phase routes used for the reactions that convert sugars into liquid hydrocarbons, focusing on the sus­tainability of using a small number of reactors with minimum use of hydro­gen sources from fossil fuels.

• The authors of Chapter 5 select phenol, water, acetic acid, acetaldehyde hydroxyacetone, D-glucose, and 2-hydroxymethylfuran as typical bio-oil components and mixed them as a synthetic bio-oil, in order to demonstrate some of the competing reaction pathways that occur in bio-oil upgrading by acid-catalyzed alcohol/olefin treatment.

• The authors of Chapter 6 take a novel approach to the problem of high emissions during small-scale biomass production by investigating the prac­tical use of catalytic components in a downdraft wood stove.

• The research in Chapter 7 considers some cross-coupling reactions that use relatively economic nucleophilic partners. The authors propose that this type of catalysis might be useful for extracting some high-value products from bio-oil mixtures, and they indentify several new protocols for cross­coupling.

• The authors of Chapter 8 describe an optimized biphasic system that could aid the development of a simple and cost-effective protocol for the conver­sion of various carbohydrates. Their results offer several advantages over some of the other methodologies, including mild reaction conditions, satis­factory product yields, and a simple isolation process.

• The recyclability experiments in Chapter 9 indicate that sulfonated Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica (PMO) is a reusable and stable option as a cata­lyst in biofuel productions.

• Chapter 10 enhances our understanding of the use of ultrasonic sound waves to accelerate the transesterification process, which could potentially lead to substantial improvement in both batch and continuous production systems, thus making biomass conversion a more sustainable process.