With the Twenty-Third Symposium, we sustained the tradition of providing an informal, congenial atmosphere that our participants find conducive to pursuing technical discussion of program topics. The techni- cal program consisted of six sessions with 38 oral presentations, a roundtable forum, two special topic discussions and a poster session con- sisting of 230 posters. A special luncheon talk on "Natural Capitalism" by Karl Rabago of the Rocky Mountain Institute was particularly enlightening. More infor- mation on these provocative approaches to resources and societal needs can be found at their website, www.rmi.org. While plant biotechnology and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for enzyme production and designer biomass emerged as exciting areas throughout the Symposium, the frank exchange in the special topic sessions indicated the importance of thinking beyond the purely technical details in this important research area. The preface for each session is included in the introductions. Session Chairpersons and Co-Chairpersons Session 1: Advances in Biomass Production and Processing Chair: Sharon Shoemaker, University of California, Davis, CA Co-Chair: David Boron, US Department of Energy, Washington DC Session 2: Enzyme and Microbial Biocatalysts Chair: Elba Bon, Chemistry Institute, UFRI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Co-Chair: Steve Picataggio, Dupont Central, Wilmington, DE Session 3: Bioprocess Research and Development Chair: Guido Zacchi, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden Co-Chair: Mark Holtzapple, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Session 4: Oil and Ethanol: An Excellent Mix? Chair: Carol Tombari, Mountain Energy Consultation LLC, Conifer, CO Session 5: Emerging Biorefinery Opportunities