Porous carbon materials including traditional activated carbons, carbon nanotubes and nanofibres, and recently emerged novel structured carbons synthesised by hard and soft templating methods have been widely used in a variety of applications. This review examines the extent to which these carbons have been used as catalyst support materials in the fields of energy and environmental chemistry. Catalyst preparation and synthesis methods are briefly summarised. Applications of carbon supported catalysts to energy related applications such as Fischer Tropsch Synthesis, Biomass-To-Liquid processes and environmental applications are reviewed with an aim to elucidate: the performance of these supported carbon catalysts; their issues and challenges; and identify potential research applications and directions. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.