With the objective of exploring the potential of bioethanol production from lignocellulosic wastes from major agro-based industries in Nepal, four types of major industries using raw materials from agriculture are selected as sources of lignocellulosic residues. They include a sugar industry, a paper industry, a tobacco industry, and a beer industry. Data from secondary/primary sources were used to record organic residues from these industries and estimates were made of potential production of bioethanol from them. About 494892.263 tons of dry bagasse could be produced if the total production of sugarcane in Nepal is taken to the sugar industry which means that about 138569.833？KL of bioethanol could be produced (in the year 2011/12). Similarly, the dry biomass residue produced from the paper mill is 86.668？ton/year that could produce 24.267？KL of bioethanol. The lignocellulosic residue from tobacco field in Nepal is approximately 18.826？ton/year that has potential to produce 5.836？KL of bioethanol. The dry biomass residue produced in beer industry amounts to 155.0596？ton/year that can yield about 63.5744？KL of bioethanol. It is estimated that about 57,841.3754？KL of bioethanol could be produced when these residues are fully utilized in producing bioethanol. If E10 is used in total import of petrol, about 20246.7？KL of bioethanol could be utilized, and the rest 37,594.6754？KL of bioethanol could be utilized for many other purposes. 1. Introduction The world’s economy today highly depends on fossil energy sources of which crude oils have been the major resource to meet the increased energy demand [1]. The utilization of these depletable sources in the long run is not considered to be sustainable. So, many countries around the world are shifting their focus toward renewable alternative sources for power production [2]. One renewable solution concerning the depletion of fossil fuels and the atmospheric pollution derived from their combustion is the use of biomass (bioenergy). The conversion of biomass into biofuels represents an important option for both the exploitation of an alternative source of energy and the reduction of polluting gases, mainly carbon dioxide [3, 4]. A variety of fuels can be produced from biomass resources that also include liquid fuels such as ethanol and methanol [5]. Liquid biofuels have several advantages [6]. Growing environmental concerns over the use and depletion of nonrenewable fuel sources, together with the increasing price of oil and instability in the oil market, have recently stimulated interest in optimizing
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