This conference is the second such meeting under the auspices of the International Energy Agency's Bioenergy Agreement. The first lEA sponsored Fundamentals of Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Conference was held in Estes Park in 1982 and attracted 153 delegates from 13 countries around the world at a time when interest in biomass derived energy was at a peak. Since then oil prices have fallen considerably and with most prognoses for level prices until the end of the century, there has been a significant downturn in support for biomass conversion technologies. It has been particularly...