Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals

BRIAN H. DAVISON Oak Ridge National Laboratory MARK FINKELSTEIN National Renewable Energy Laboratory CHARLES E. WYMAN Oak Ridge National Laboratory The Eighteenth Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemi­ cals continues to provide a forum for the presentation of research results and the exchange of ideas on advances in biotechnology for the produc­ tion of fuels and chemicals. Although the emphasis is on utilization of renewable resources, the scope of the Symposium is broader than this and includes bioconversion of fossil fuels and syngas and the new area of conversions in nonaqueous environments; these areas were discussed in Session 5 and in a Special Topic Discussion Group at the Symposium. In addition, recent developments in bioremediation were well represented in Session 6 and in the poster session. The Symposium involved both the development of new biological agents (such as enzymes or microbes) to carry out targeted conversions as well as bioprocess development. The first area covered improvements in enzymes as well as fundamental insights into substrate-enzyme inter­ actions and photosynthesis. The latter area focused on converting one material into another using biological agents through combinations of chemical engineering, biological sciences, and fermentation technology. This area also refers to an overall processing involving at least one bio­ logically catalyzed step in combination with other physical and/ or chemi­ cal processing operations. Agricultural crops, such as corn and corn fiber as well as woody biomass and lignocellulosic wastes, are emphasized for process feedstocks and their pretreatment investigated.