in R&D, to find new and better solutions to the conversion of solar energy. I believe that we will find these solutions, sooner or later. But their deployment will be costly and slow. In the meantime, we must still survive.Plants exist because chance and evolution invented and perfected photosynthesis, an astonishing and still somewhat mysterious molecular mechanism to convert solar radiant power into stocks of chemical energy. The vast majority of heterotrophs, like us, exploit this ability of plants in order to survive. We even feed our machines solar/chemical energy from plants long dead. The downside of this solution, as we are painfully learning, is the introduction of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, in particular CO2 from combustion, at rates far greater than those that the geosphere can metabolize. As a result, they accumulate in the atmosphere in growing amounts, reaching levels that we increasingly believe are too high for the stability of global climate.Bioenergy seeks to exploit photosynthesis, as efficiently as possible, to increase total primary power supply. Its great advantage is that, in principle, it can lead to a net atmospheric carbon balance that is zero or even slightly negative. The downsides are that in principle is not always in practice, and that we may end up using land and water in undesirable and unsustainable ways in order to produce the vast amounts of bioenergy required to keep our industrial civilization running.There is no perfect solution. But, there are better and worse solutions. In order to identify and develop these better solutions, we need to involve the best brains we can muster in their search. That is, we need to invest in R&D and engineering, and we need to attract top talents to work in the field of bioenergy. It is an exciting inter and multi-disciplinary field: from molecular biology to chemical engineering, from agronomy to environmental science, from sustainability studies to economics, and much more. It is true that the challenge does not stop at the laboratories and pilot plants. It involves political, regulatory, military, trade, and financial aspects, that take us far away from photosynthesis, but that inseparable concerns whenever energy is discussed.Brazil is a world leader in bioenergy. We all know that. With abundant land, water, sun, and the wonderful sugarcane, it has a privileged situation as a producer of bioenergy. But this leadership may be easily lost if the country does not invest heavily in R&D and engineering, to face the enormous technical challenges of increasing the scale of production, at the same time minimizing the environmental and social impacts of bioenergy.The BBEST conference tries to strike a balance among all these multiple facets of the bioenergy challenge. First and foremost, however, its aim is to give bioenergy visibility among young researchers and students, let them know how important an issue it is and how fascinating the career opportunities are that it offers. Twenty-one countries are represented, some of the best researchers in the field are getting together for a few days to present their results, network with their colleagues, and, we hope, motivate young people.