Bioethanol production from the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica biomass was studied. The effects of temperature (90-150 degrees C) and H2SO4 concentration (2-15% w/w) on the saccharification of biomass at a hydrolysis time of 1 h were investigated. A maximum glucose concentration of 35.89 g/L can be produced from defatted biomass using 6% H2SO4 at 120 degrees C. Subcritical water (SCW) pretreatment has negligible effect. on maximizing glucose yield. Only 14.53 g/L glucose can be produced using 6% H2SO4 at 120 degrees C if un-defatted biomass was used. The highest ethanol concentration achieved was 13.39 g/L with a corresponding ethanol yield of 0.084 g/g dry biomass (0.38 g ethanol/g glucose). (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.