In 2018, air pollution from fossil fuels created $2.9 trillion in cost to the economy, healthcare systems, and society this amounts to $8 billion a day. The combustion of fossil fuels is the main contributor to the hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 99% of the population globally breathes air that is polluted and causes a health risk, and more than 13 million humans die every year from avoidable environmental causes, including air pollution. The frequent use and burning of fossil fuels has generated historically high levels of greenhouse gases. Humans have always relied heavily on coal, oil, and other fossil fuels to run everything from incandescent bulbs to vehicles to factories. Renewable energy (RE) is generated by natural sources and is abundantly accessible from sources like sun, wind, water, waste, and heat from the Earth. The present review discusses the current updates, future possibilities, and challenges of biofuels production to help make the country self-reliant in the field of green energy. The supply of biofuels, such as feedstock is large, and with improved processing, we may be able to significantly lower our reliance on fossil fuels. The present review focuses on the application of nanocatalysts in various stages of biofuel production, different types of nanocatalyst used in the innovative era and for biofuels production and their merits and demerits. With increasing application of nanoparticles as catalysts in several sectors due to its unique properties such as high catalytic activity, surface to volume ratio, mechanical properties, etc., its application in biofuels production has been explored recently. Even though biofuels are effective alternatives, high operational costs with low production volume are the major limitations of this process, which the available technologies cannot handle. These biofuels are produced from crops and edible/non-edible materials and emit much lower pollution compared to fossil-derived fuels. In order to mitigate the harmful effects of fossil-derived fuels, researchers are more focused towards the production and application of bio-based fuels like bioethanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen etc. Extensive use of these fossil-derived fuels has caused serious threats to the environment in terms of greenhouse gases emission leading to breathing troubles and other associated health hazards. As a result, there is excessive exploitation and over-usage of fuels and finite resources, which is paving the path for the exhaustion of fuels. Aggrandize industrialization and urbanization have resulted in many issues, such as increased energy demand, a plethora of waste output, and negative environmental consequences.
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