The PRODUCTION OF FUELS AND CHEMICALS from biomass faces signi­ficant technical and economic challenges at present. Its success depends largely on the development of environmentally friendly pretreatment pro­cedures, a highly effective multienzyme system for conversion of pre­treated biomass to fermentable sugars, and efficient microorganisms to ferment mixed sugar substrates to fuels and chemicals. It is timely to pro­vide a book that can guide further research and development in this area.

This volume was developed from a symposium presented at the 211th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, titled “Fuels and Chemicals from Biomass”, sponsored by the ACS Biotechnology Secre­tariat and the Division of Biochemical Technology, in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 24-28, 1996. This book presents a compilation of ten manuscripts from that symposium plus nine solicited manuscripts that represent recent advances in the production of fuels and chemicals from biomass. The chapters in this book are organized in two sections: fuels (ethanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen) and chemicals (lactic acid, succinic acid, 1,3-propanediol, 2,3-butanediol, polyhydroxybutyrate, and xylitol). A chapter on synthesis-gas fermentation is included in the chemicals section.

We hope that this book will serve as a valuable interdisciplinary con­tribution to the continually expanding field of the production of fuels and chemicals from biomass.

Acknowledgments

We are fortunate to have contributions from many leading authorities in their respective disciplines. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the contributing authors, the reviewers who pro­vided excellent comments to the editors, the ACS Biotechnology Secre­tariat and the Division of Biochemical Technology, and the ACS Books Department for making possible the symposium and the publication of this book. We also would like to acknowledge the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Cor-

IX

poration for the U. S. Department of Energy under contract DE — AC05-960R22464.

badal C. Saha

Fermentation Biochemistry Research Unit

National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research

Agricultural Research Service

U. S. Department of Agriculture

1815 North University Street

Peoria, IL 61604

Jonathan Woodward Chemical Technology Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge, TN 37831

January 24, 1997

x