| Summary: | In Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, based on the 18th Symposium, held in Oak Ridge, TN, May 5-9, 1996, leading researchers from academia, industry, and government present state-of-the-art research results and promising new concepts on the use of biotechnology to produce fuels and chemicals competitively. The contributions emphasize the utilization of renewable resources, but also include the bioconversion of fossil fuels and syngas, as well as the new area of conversions in nonaqueous environments. The Eighteenth Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals covers the development of new biological agents (such as enzymes or microbes) to carry out targeted conversions, in addition to actual bioprocess development. Topics range from improvements in enzymes to fundamental insights into substrate-enzyme interactions and photosynthesis, and from conversions of substrates using biological agents to combinations of chemical engineering, biological sciences, and fermentation technology. Agricultural crops, such as corn and corn fiber, as well as woody biomass and lignocellulosic wastes, are investigated for use in process feedstocks, including pretreatment studies. Also treated are a variety of potential bioconversion products, including fumaric acid, succinic acid, methane, enzymes, glucuronic acid, and biodiesel fuel. The novel concepts, techniques, and research results reported in The Eighteenth Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals are important contributions to the development of the new biological processes needed for the production of fuels and chemicals on a large scale, for the reduction of pollution, for solving waste disposal problems, and for helping remediate global climate change
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