In this study, pretreatment liquor of acid-stored green and yellowish barley silage was used for fermentative acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) production. Further, the catalytic oxidation of biobutanol over Pt catalysts was studied to investigate the behaviour of butanol as a fuel in the combustion engine. After the hydrothermal treatment of green and yellowish barley silage followed by enzymatic hydrolysis, approximately 88% and 100% of the available sugars were recovered, respectively. Batch fermentations of pretreatment barley silage liquor, supplemented with gelatinised barley grain, showed good fermentability with total ABE concentrations of 9.0 g/L and 10.9 g/L. Butanol yields of 0.20, 0.17 and ABE yields of 0.28, 0.26 (g/g monosaccharide) were obtained, respectively. In catalytic activity measurements, the conversion of biobutanol became appreciable in the 120-140 degrees C range, whereas conversions greater than 95% were obtained over 200 degrees C. Selectivities were also high, although formation of by-products, such as butyraldehyde, was observed. (C) 2014 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.