Carbonaceous adsorbents are higly porous materials containing mostly of carbon and exhibiting a large internal surface, and which due, to their surface properties, adsorb organic and inorganic substances from gaseous or the liquid phase. This group of adsorbents contains: active carbons, carbon molecular sieves, activated carbon fibres. The methods for production of carbonaceous adsorbents are discussed. They can, essentially, be made from all carbon - containing presursors by so-called activation process. The ability to vary the type of activation (gas activation or chemical activation) permits production of a wide range of products having adsorption properties most suited for the intended application. Main objects of research and development in this area described. The examples of typical applications of carbonaceous adsorbents (solvents recovery, air deodorization) is given. Development of new processes (pressure swing adsorption for gas separation and natural gas storage) is presented. By improved adsorption properties of carbonaceous adsorbents it became possible to come up to the reqirements for increased throughput and efficiency of processes. The future prospects for carbonaceous adsorbents call increasing sophistication in the production, of the tailored products as well as to model and design complete adsorber systems based on improved understanding of the basic adsorption process.