This volume summarizes our current knowledge on different biomass-converting enzymes and their potential use in converting biomass into simple sugar to generate bioenergy and other value added co-/by products. It consists of 13 chapters and is divided into three parts: cellulases; hemicellulases; and lignocellulose oxidoreductases. Written by international experts, the contributions offer clear and concise descriptions of both standard and new technologies. It is an invaluable reference resource for undergraduates, post-graduates, researchers and practitioners in the field of microbial enzymes for biofuel and biorefinery applications.

Recent economic trends, especially the worldwide decline in oil prices, and an altered political climate in the United States have combined to bring about major reductions in research on renewable energy resources. Yet there is no escaping the "facts of life" with regard to these resources. The days of inexpensive fossil energy are clearly numbered, the credibility of nuclear energy has fallen to a new low, and fusion energy stands decades or more from practical realization. Sooner than we may wish ,we will have to turn to renewable raw materials - plant "biomass" and, especially, wood - as significant suppliers of energy for both industry and everyday needs. It is therefore especially important to have a single, comprehensive and current source of information on a key step in any process for the technological exploitation of woody materials, cellulose hydrolysis. Further more, it is essential that any such treatment be unbiased with respect to the two methods - chemical and biochemical - for the breakdown of cellulose to sugars. Researchers on cellulose hydrolysis have frequently been chided by persons from industry, especially those individuals concerned with determining the economic feasibility of various technological alternatives. They tell us that schemes for the utilization of wood and other such resources fly in the face of economic realities.

This book explores the applications of computational chemistry ranging from the pharmaceutical industry and molecular structure determination to spectroscopy and astrophysics. The authors detail how calculations can be used to solve a wide range of practical challenges encountered in research and industry.

Cellulose is a major constituent of papers made from plant fibers and combustible component of non-food energy crops. An ideal reference for scientists in natural and synthetic polymer research, this book applies basic biology as well as polymer and sugar chemistry to the study of cellulose. It provides key requirements for understanding the comple

The Soviet Union has had an active research and development program in the study and applica tion of soluble and immobilized enzymes since about 1970. Therefore, it was a natural conse quence that an international conference should be held in the Soviet Union to focus on some of the developments that may lead to new and exciting practical applications of enzymatic catalysts in a variety of areas, especially carbohydrate con versions, medicine, energy transduction, and photochemistry. The International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study, with its goal of focusing international scientific and technological exper tise on world problems, also has been very active in the area of enzyme engineering, with a major effort during 1972-1977 in several of the sub areas covered in this volume. The conference was held June 20-24, 1978 in the city of Tbilisi in the Georgian SSR of the USSR, under the title "The Future of Enzyme En gineering Development." The participants expressed a high sense of gratitude to the State Committee for Science and Technology and especially to the Georgian Academy of Sciences for their hospitality. The services of the Soviet linguists in providing simultaneous translation between Russian and English, and the brass band that played for the departing participants at the Tbilisi airport helped to make both the scientific and cultural parts of the conference memorable.

"Biofuels" provides state-of-the-art information on the status of biofuel production and related aspects. It includes a detailed overview of the alternative energy field and the role of biofuels as new energy sources, and gives a detailed account of the production of biodiesel from non-conventional bio-feedstocks such as algae and vegetable oils.