TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOLOGY - Preferred Method: The steps (b) and (c) are performed concurrently. The pH of the biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture is greater than 8. Vacuum is applied to the biomass prior to treating the biomass with an aqueous solution containing ammonia. The dry weight of biomass is at a high solids concentration of at least 15 - 80 (preferably 15 - 60) wt.%. Ammonia is present at less than about 10 (preferably 6 or less) wt.%. The step (a) is carried out at 4 - 200 (preferably 75 - 150, more preferably 90 - 150)degreesC for 25 (preferably 8) hours. At least a portion of ammonia of step (a) is removed prior to step (b) and is recycled. The step of (a) and (b) may be repeated at least one time. (P1) further involves addition of at least one plasticizer and/or softening agent in step (a) and applying energy (E) (preferably by milling, crushing, grinding, shredding, chopping, disk refining, ultrasound or microwave) before or during step (a) and/or (b). Step (b) is performed at 15 - 100degreesC and at a pH of 2 - 11. The carbon dioxide from fermentation is used to adjust the pH of the pretreatment mixture prior to saccharification.Preferred Biocatalyst: The biocatalyst is selected from bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeast (preferably wild type, mutant, or recombinant microorganism, more preferably Escherichia, Zymomonas, Saccharomyces, Candida, Pichia, Streptomyces, Bacillus, Lactobacillus and Clostridium, especially recombinant Escherichia coli, Zymomonas mobilis, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Pichia stipitis, particularly recombinant Zymomonas mobilis).Preferred Biomass: The biomass is selected from bioenergy crops, agricultural residues, municipal solid waste, industrial solid waste, yard waste, wood and forestry waste (preferably switchgrass, waste paper, sludge from paper manufacture, corn grain, corn cobs, corn husks, corn stover, grasses, wheat, wheat straw, hay, barley, barley straw, rice straw, sugar cane bagasse, sorghum, soy, components obtained from processing of grains, trees, branches, roots, leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shrubs and bushes, vegetables, fruits, flowers and animal manure, (preferably corn cobs, corn stover, corn husks, sugar cane bagasse, sawdust, switchgrass, wheat straw, hay, barley straw, rice straw, and grasses, more preferably corn cobs, corn stover, sawdust, and sugar cane bagasse).Preferred Enzyme: The saccharification enzyme consortium comprises at least one glycosidase and at least one enzyme selected from cellulose-hydrolyzing glycosidases, hemicellulose-hydrolyzing glycosidases, starch-hydrolyzing glycosidases, peptidases, lipases, ligninases and feruloyl esterases (preferably cellulases, endoglucanases, exoglucanases, cellobiohydrolases, D-glucosidases, xylanases, endoxylanases, exoxylanases, D-xylosidases, arabinoxylanases, mannases, galactases, pectinases, glucuronidases, amylases, alpha-amylases, D-amylases, glucoamylases, alpha-glucosidases, isoamylases).    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: Ammonia selected from ammonia gas, ammonium hydroxide and/or urea.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Compounds: The plasticizer and/or softening agent is selected from polyols, esters of polyols, glycol ethers, acetamide, ethanol, and ethanolamines. EXAMPLE - Cob biomass was loaded in the reactor, vacuum was applied, and dilute ammonium hydroxide solution was injected to give ammonia (4 g/100 g dry weight biomass) and a dry weight of biomass (30 g dry weight of biomass/100 g total biomass-aqueous ammonia mixture). The reactor vessel charged with ammonia and cob was rotated at 4degreesC for 30 minutes. The contents were transferred to the steam gun reactor, the temperature increased to 145degreesC, and the mixture was held for 20 minutes. Material from the steam gun was discharged into a flash tank, and vacuum was maintained on the flash tank to aid ammonia removal. After pH adjustment, the pretreated biomass was saccharified at 30 g dry weight of biomass/100 g pretreated biomass-saccharification enzyme consortium mixture with cellulose spezyme CP (RTM: starch separation/viscosity reducing enzyme) cellulase (28.4 mg) and active protein cellulose enzyme consortium (10.1 mg) consisting of beta-glucosidase, xylanase, beta-xylosidase and arabinofuranosidase for 72 hours at 50degreesC and pH 5.5. This hydrolysate was used as a source of fermentable sugar for conversion to ethanol by wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The hydrolyzate was used at 10% (v/v) strength, with the balance being aqueous medium consisting (g/l) of yeast extract (10), and peptone (20). Yeast were cultured and the cultures were incubated at 30degreesC for 24 hours. The amount of ethanol produced was found to be 4.3 g by utilizing 94% of glucose.