vehicles. Currently, ethanol for the fuel market is produced
from sugar (Brazil) or starch (USA) at competitive prices.
However, this raw material base, which also has to be used
for animal feed and human needs, will not be sufficient to
meet the increasing demand for fuel ethanol; and the
reduction of greenhouse gases resulting from use of sugaror
starch-based ethanol is not as high as desirable [3]. Both
these factors call for the exploitation of lignocellulose feedstocks,
such as agricultural and forest residues as well as
dedicated crops, for the production of ethanol. This review
summarizes recent developments in the bioconversion
processes aimed at fuel ethanol production, with emphasis
on process integration. In particular, the concept that each
individual unit operation has to be developed and
optimized in relation to the preceding and subsequent
process steps will be discussed.