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Series Preface

      Renewable resources, their use and modification, are involved in a multitude of important processes with a major influence on our everyday lives. Applications can be found in the energy sector, paints and coatings, and the chemical, pharmaceutical, and textile industries, to name but a few.

      The area interconnects several scientific disciplines (agriculture, biochemistry, chemistry, technology, environmental sciences, forestry, etc.), which makes it very difficult to have an expert view on the complicated interactions. Therefore, the idea to create a series of scientific books, focusing on specific topics concerning renewable resources, has been very opportune and can help to clarify some of the underlying connections in this area.

      In a very fast‐changing world, trends are not only characteristic of fashion and political standpoints; science too is not free from hypes and buzzwords. The use of renewable resources is again more important nowadays; however, it is not part of a hype or a fashion. As the lively discussions among scientists continue about how many years we will still be able to use fossil fuels – opinions ranging from 50 to 500 years – they do agree that the reserve is limited and that it is essential not only to search for new energy carriers but also for new material sources.

      In this respect, the field of renewable resources is a crucial area in the search for alternatives for fossil‐based raw materials and energy. In the field of energy supply, biomass‐ and renewables‐based resources will be part of the solution alongside other alternatives such as solar energy, wind energy, hydraulic power, hydrogen technology, and nuclear energy. In the field of material sciences, the impact of renewable resources will probably be even bigger. Integral utilization of crops and the use of waste streams in certain industries will grow in importance, leading to a more sustainable way of producing materials. Although our society was much more (almost exclusively) based on renewable resources centuries ago, this disappeared in the Western world in the nineteenth century. Now it is time to focus again on this field of research. However, it should not mean a “retour à la nature,” but should be a multidisciplinary effort on a highly technological level to perform research towards new opportunities, and to develop new crops and products from renewable resources. This will be essential to guarantee an acceptable level of comfort for the growing number of people living on our planet. It is “the” challenge for the coming generations of scientists to develop more sustainable ways to create prosperity and to fight poverty and hunger in the world. A global approach is certainly favored.

This challenge can only be dealt with if scientists are attracted to this area and are recognized for their efforts in this interdisciplinary field. It is, therefore, also essential that consumers recognize the fate of renewable resources in a number of products. Furthermore, scientists do need to communicate and discuss the relevance of their work. The use and modification of renewable resources may not follow the path of the genetic engineering concept in view of consumer acceptance in Europe. Related to this aspect, the series will certainly help to increase the visibility of the importance of renewable resources. Being convinced of the value of the renewables approach for the industrial world, as well as for developing countries, I was myself delighted to collaborate on this series of books focusing on the different aspects of renewable resources. I hope that readers become aware of the complexity, the interaction, and interconnections, and the challenges of this field, and that they will help to communicate on the importance of renewable resources.

      I certainly want to thank the people of Wiley's Chichester office, especially David Hughes, Jenny Cossham, and Lyn Roberts, in seeing the need for such a series of books on renewable resources, for initiating and supporting it, and for helping to carry the project to the end.

      Last, but not least, I want to thank my family, especially my wife Hilde and children Paulien and Pieter‐Jan, for their patience, and for giving me the time to work on the series when other activities seemed to be more inviting.

      Christian V. Stevens

      Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Belgium

      Series Editor, “Renewable Resources”

      June 2005