Scientists from the University of Lund (Sweden) recently reported the stream pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse and leaves, while impregnating the materials with carbon dioxide gas. Sugar cane bagasse and leaves are lignocellulosic materials which can be converted to fuel ethanol, after pretreatment. Steam treatment is one thermal pretreatment method, where the lignocellulosic material is subjected to superheated steam at high temperature and pressure. The pretreatment removes the lignin wrapping off the biomass, while simultaneously breaking down the polymeric carbohydrates (i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose) into simple sugars for ethanol fermentation. Impregnating the lignocellulosic material with a gas (such as CO₂) reportedly improves sugar yields. Results showed that sugar cane bagasse and leaves had different pretreatment conditions for maximum sugar yields. For bagasse, the highest glucose yield (86% of the theoretical) was obtained after steam pretreatment at 205^oC for 15 minutes. For leaves, 92% of the theoretical glucose yield was obtained at 220^oC for 5 minutes. The content of the impregnating gas (CO₂) was the same for both materials (3% by weight). The complete paper can be accessed in the open access journal, Biotechnology for Biofuels (URL above)..