Although a number of second generation technologies for the production of fuel ethanol
have been proposed and tested [3e6] the use of large amounts of harsh chemicals and enzymes necessary
to liberate sugars from the plant materials have made most of the technologies very expensive. The
concept of a bio-refinery was developed in an effort to produce a wide variety of products from a single
biomass feedstock [7e11] which would help to make the production facility economically feasible. A bio-
refinery in itself does not contribute toward alleviating fears regarding food security, even if second
generation feedstock such as grass agricultural waste is used, because the energy crop still needs
to be planted and for that land and water is required. A more elegant solution is the use of a bio-refinery
feedstock that can produce both food (in the form of grain) and fuel (from bagasse) in a single crop.
Sweet sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor L Moench) is a hardy crop that can be grown very successfully
on marginal land [12,13]. A single crop can be grown in six months to produce grain with a high starch
content as well as stalks that is rich in sugar syrup and lignocellulose materials. In this study, a single step
method for the pretreatment and hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse (solids left after syrup has been
pressed fromstalks) is presented and discussed. The short pretreatment and hydrolysis time as well as the
fact that no enzymes are required for sugar liberation makes the proposed method economically attractive
for large scale production of bioethanol from grass type biomass.