Porous carbons have been prepared from biomass resources, such as cornstalks, rice straws, pine needles and pinecone hulls, through a simple carbonization and KOH solution activation process. The pore sizes of the obtained porous carbons are mainly distributed in the range of 1-2 nm, whereas the surface areas of the materials vary from 1000 to more than 3000 m(2) g(-1) depending on the raw materials and preparation conditions. It is found that the biomass texture and the activation manner play key roles in determination of surface areas of the porous carbons. In addition, the amount of activation agent, the activation temperature and the activation time also affect the surface area of the porous carbons but to a less extent. The obtained porous carbons with high surface areas show good performance when used as Pt-catalyst supports for cinanamaldehyde hydrogenation. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.