<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>A sequential two-stage pretreatment process comprising alkaline pre-extraction and alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatment (AHP) was investigated to convert bamboo carbohydrates into bioethanol. The results showed that mild alkaline pre-extraction using 8% (w/w) sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at 100°C for 180min followed by AHP pretreatment with 4% (w/w) hydrogen peroxide (H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB>) was sufficient to generate a substrate that could be efficiently digested with low enzyme loadings. Moreover, alkali pre-extraction enabled the use of lower H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB> charges in AHP treatment. Two-stage pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis with only 9FPU/g cellulose led to the recovery of 87% of the original sugars in the raw feedstock. The use of the pentose-hexose fermenting <I>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</I> SR8u strain enabled the utilization of 95.7% sugars in the hydrolysate to reach 4.6%w/v ethanol titer. The overall process also enabled the recovery of 62.9% lignin and 93.8% silica at high levels of purity.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Sequential alkali extraction-AHP treatment enabled efficient bamboo fractionation. </LI> <LI> The proposed process produces ethanol and recovers lignin and silica. </LI> <LI> Compared to traditional one-stage AHP, H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB> demand could be substantially lowered. </LI> <LI> High ethanol titer was reached with relatively low enzyme loadings. </LI> </UL> </P>