Biofuel production is set to increase worldwide on an almost exponential scale. Currently, the sector is dominated by starch and sugarcane-based bioethanol processes in the US and Brazil, respectively, and by plant oil-derived biodiesel. Bioethanol relies on fermentative activities of yeasts (and some bacteria), whilst biodiesel is not of too much interest to microbiologists (unless viable bioconversions of surplus glycerol can be found) and about half of the book focuses on biodiesel. I found the title for this book somewhat strange, as there aren't many non-plant based biofuels (apart from tallow-derived biodiesel). This text is hardly 'state-of-the-art' (as it professes to be) and for a 2009 publication does not reflect recent developments in biofuel research and production. Also, oil market influences on biofuels refer to 2005 data. The bioethanol chapters do not convey very new microbiological information. On the contrary, I was rather annoyed by use of the ancient term zymase when referring to 'a yeast enzyme that converts glucose and fructose into ethanol and CO₂'. No mention is made of exciting microbiological developments in other biofuels such as biobutanol and biohydrogen. Unfortunately, for researchers this is not a very worthwhile contribution to a rapidly moving field, but undergraduate microbiologists may find it of some interest.