In spite of the huge success of converting corn starch into ethanol, this cannot satisfy the challenges set by the US government to produce 35 billion gallons of biofuels per year by 2017. Instead, the growing of dedicated energy crops and converting their cellulose and hemicellulose to ethanol, or the equivalent, is an essential approach. It can produce a much higher ratio of energy output to input than making ethanol from corn and avoids the fuel versus food and feed arguments. Cellulose-derived biofuels are essential to meet the targets set by the US government and aid in the reduction of the rate of increase of CO2 production in the atmosphere.