This book presents recent developments in the field of environmental biotechnology. Three major forces are currently driving this discipline: the exploration of microbial diversity by genetic and genomic tools, the ongoing progress in the modelling of various transient phenomena, and environmental biotechnology. This book provides a state-of-art-overview of developments in the field of environmental biotechnology concerning exploration, implementation, modelling, economic development and safety. It comprises selected, peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the European Symposium on Environmental Biotechnology (ESEB) 2004, held in Oostende, Belgium, April 2004.