Pine wood chip was investigated as complementary biomass residue, from the agroforestry sector, in bioethanol
production process. Experimental campaign tested samples varying severity parameter, comparing dry and wet
material and evaluating a two-steps steam explosion to decrease process conditions. Considering the overall process,
best performance were obtained with high logR0 values between 4.5 and 4.6 (maximum yield 10.60 g ethanol/100 g
raw dry material), which is a good result considering low initial cellulose content in the raw material (32%). High
severity parameter values reduced both recovered WIS in pretreatment and fermentation efficiency, but reached the
best hydrolysis and overall performances due to optimal biomass deconstruction. Double-step steam explosion
obtained lower overall results (7.21-8.89 g ethanol/100 g raw material), but this performance can be reached with
lower logR0 (4.2-4.3) and could be furthermore investigated in order to reduce pre-treatment costs and minimize
inhibitors formation to produce bioethanol also from hemicellulose contained in the liquid after pretreatment.