A large part of the biomass is used for non-commercial purposes and mostly for cooking and heating, but the use is not sustainable, because it destroys soil nutrients, causes indoor and outdoor pollution, adds to greenhouse gases, and results in health problems. Commercial use of biomass includes household fuel wood in industrialized countries and bio-char (charcoal) and firewood in urban and industrial areas in developing countries. The most efficient way of biomass utilization is through gasification, in which the gas produced by biomass gasification can either be used to generate power in an ordinary steam-cycle or be converted into motor fuel. In the latter case, there are two alternatives, namely, the synthesis of methanol and methanol-based motor fuels, or Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis. This paper deals with the technological overview of the state-of-the-art key biomass-conversion technologies that can play an important role in the future. The conversion routes for production of Heat, power and transportation fuel have been summarized in this paper, viz. combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, digestion, fermentation and extraction.