active industrial participation in the organizing committee. Recently, the conference has begun a regular informal industrial roundtable (Session 4). This has become very popular as it allows industrial participants to speak more openly. For a broader perspective, R. James Woolsey, Former Direc tor of Central Intelligence Agency, gave an after-dinner address on "Wagon Trains for the 21st Century: The Role for Biorefineries. " He urged the attendees of the importance of their efforts to develop renewable, benign processes for the United States and the world based on both security and prosperity reasons. These related to energy supply, support of domestic agriculture, global warming, and other issues. With the Twentieth Symposium, we continued the tradition of pro viding an informal, congenial atmosphere that our participants find condu cive to pursuing technical discussion of program topics. The technical program consisted of 35 oral presentations, a roundtable forum, two spe cial topic discussions, and a poster session of 133 posters. This year, tech nical topics included: Session 1: Feedstocks: New Supplies and Processing Session 2: Applied Biological Research Session 3: Bioprocessing Research Session 4: Emerging Opportunities for Industrial Chemicals Session 5: Bioprocess Evaluation and Confirmation Session 6: Enzymatic Processes and Enzyme Production Special topic discussions were held on "Defining the Future Separa tions Needs Derived from Bioprocessing" by Earl Beaver, Monsanto Com pany, St.

State-of-the-art research by leading experts ## Advanced feedstock production and processing ## Enzyme and microbial biocatalysis ## Bioprocess research and development ## Commercialization of biobased products.

Lysts using enzyme, microbial, and plantbiochemistriesand genetic engi neeringand "ProcessingResearch" describedtheconversionofplantcom ponentsviaintegrationofmicrobiology, biochemistry, andchemistrywith engineering, separations, and hybrid systems. The "Enzymatic Processes and Enzyme Production" session focused on the manufacture and use of enzymes. The"IndustrialChemicals"sessionemphasizedrecentdevelop mentsintheintegratedproductionandscale-upofchemicalsfrombiologi cal rather than petrochemical routes. Special interest was on separation methods and their integrationintonew fermentation orhybrid processes. 35 oral presentations, a roundtable The technical program consisted of forum, two special topic discussions, and a poster session of 135 posters. Wecontinuedasuccessfulinformalroundtableserieswith"Bioenergy and Bioproducts: Forum on Recent Government Initiatives," which dis cussedthePresident'sExecutiveOrder, the BioenergyInitiative, the Tech nology Roadmap for Renewables Vision 2020, and other thrusts. These eventscontinuethe strongindustrial focus and activeindustrialparticipa tionintheorganizingcommittee. Thishasbecomeverypopularbecauseit allows industrialand government participants to speakmore openly. AspecialTopicsDiscussionGroupwasheldon"C0 Sequestration," 2 ledby James W. Lee. Another onwas held on "Commercializationof Bio mass-to-Ethanol" where chairs Jack N. Saddler and David J. Gregg made thegoal ofthisworkshop to showparticipantsthatweare close to demon stratingthe technicalviability ofanintegratedbiomass-to-ethanolprocess and that progressive technical advances and policy decisions will likely greatly enhance the economic attractiveness of the process.

industry, and 22% were from government. A total of oral presentations (including Special Topic presentations) and 329 poster presentations were delivered. The high number of poster submissions required splitting the poster session into two evening sessions. (Conference details are posted at http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/biotech_symposium/.) Almost 35% of the attendees were international, showing the strong and building worldwide interest in this area. Nations represented included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Ki- dom, and Venezuela, as well as the United States. One of the focus areas for bioconversion of renewable resources into fuels is conversion of lignocellulose into sugars and the conversion of s- ars into fuels and other products. This focus is continuing to expand toward the more encompassing concept of the integrated multiproduct biorefinery--where the production of multiple fuel, chemical, and energy products occurs at one site using a combination of biochemical and ther- chemical conversion technologies. The biorefinery concept continues to grow as a unifying framework and vision, and the biorefinery theme f- tured prominently in many talks and presentations. However, another emerging theme was the importance of examining and optimizing the entire biorefining process rather than just its bioconversion-related elements.

153 posters. While plant biotechnology for enzyme production and designer biomass merged as "hot topics" throughout the Symposium, the preface for each session is included in the introductions. Special topic discussions were led on "Brazilian Bioethanol Progress" by Gisella Zanin, State University of Maringa, Brazil, and on "Nontradi tional Bioprocessing" by Gene Petersen, National Renewable Energy Labo ratory, Golden, CO. A tour of the Colorado Bioprocessing Center, a "state of the art" con tract research facility at Colorado State University highlighted the process development and scale-up activities ongoing with several industrial clients. The 1999 Charles D. Scott Award for Distinguished Contributions in the field of Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals was presented to Dr. Charles E. Wyman, Dartmouth College professor, Thayer School of Engineering, Hanover, New Hampshire. This award is named in honor of Dr. Charles D. Scott, the founder of this Symposium and its chair for the first ten years.

In Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals: The Twenty-Ninth Symposium, leading US and international researchers from academia, industry, and government exchange cutting-edge technical information and update current trends in the development and application of biotechnology for sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. This symposium emphasizes advances in biotechnology to produce high-volume, low-price products from renewable resources, while improving the environment. The major areas of interest include advanced feedstock production and processing, enzymatic and microbial biocatalysis, bioprocess research and development, opportunities in biorefineries, and commercialization of biobased products. International and domestic progress on producing liquid biofuels, especially ethanol and biodiesel, is highlighted, and related topics, including bioseparations and optimal integration of biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies, are featured. Forward-looking and authoritative, Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals: The Twenty-NInth Symposium provides an illuminating overview of current research and development in the production of commodity fuels and chemicals from renewable biomass resources via biochemical and thermochemical routes.

State-of-the-art research by leading experts Advanced feedstock production and processing Enzyme and microbial biocatalysis Bioprocess research and development Commercialization of biobased products.