The theme of these proceedings is that biomass is a growth opportunity in green energy and value-added products. The papers detail how the modernization of the biomass energy sector, which started with the energy crises of the 1970s and 1980s, is now starting to mature. Novel processes such as fast pyrolysis, which did not even exist before 1970, are now reaching the market place. Biomass has moved from being merely a proposed energy source to being an advanced and modern one.