Abstract The development of alternative energy storage technologies is key to advance renewable energy resources. Among them, redox flow batteries (RFBs) have been identified to be one of the most promising technologies in the field of stationary batteries. The carbon-based electrodes in these batteries are a crucial component and play an important part in achieving high efficiency and performance. A further leap into this direction is the design of fossil-free materials by incorporating sustainable alternative resources as the carbon component in the processing of the electrodes. The use of biomass as carbon precursor for electrode applications has also been a focus of research for other energy storage devices and in the case of RFBs, it has become an emergent topic in recent years. This short review presents the recent advances in the design of biomass-derived carbon materials as electrodes in RFBs, strategies to enhance their electrocatalytic properties, challenges, and future outlook in the design of sustainable electrode materials.