Biofuels

In line withthe current focusona sustainable economy, bioethanoland other biofuels have received tremendous attention, making many headlines. Being produced in steadily growingvolumes has made it necessary to consider p- duction of biofuels from renewable raw materials that are not currently used. Therefore, the production of biofuels is at the gateway of moving from tra- tionalrawmaterials tootherssuchaslignocellulosicmaterials. However,such a transfer requires new production processes that are economically feasible. This volume addresses and discusses the current status of biofuels, covering aspects from enabling technologies to different technology and processes - tions,aswellaseconomicalandpolicyperspectives. Itrepresentsatimelyand comprehensive overview. In itself, the ?eld bioethanol and other biofuels receive great current int- est;however,developmentinthisareawillalsopavethewayforabreakthrough within industrial biotechnology (de?ned as the application of biotechnology for the processing and production of chemicals, material, and energy).

The technology development driven by the interest in biofuels will lead to - periences most valuable for introduction of other industrial biotechnology processes. In parallel, scienti?c developments in the post-genomic era and achievements in systems biology will allow the necessary development and ?ne-tuning of the biological catalyst. In light of this, the development of b- fuelprocesses,presented inthisvolume, canbeseen ina muchlargercontext. I want to sincerely thank all authors that have contributed to the volume for their dedicated effort and their excellent contribution. I hope that you as a reader will enjoy the volume.