TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOTECHNOLOGY - Preferred Process: In making ethanol and other chemicals, at least a portion of the ethanol is recovered from the fermented anaerobic broth. The process further comprises lysing the aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in the fermented anaerobic broth to produce a lysate comprising remaining fermentable sugars and cellular contents. It further comprises subjecting the lysate to additional physical and/or chemical treatment. The process further comprises inoculating the lysate with another microorganism and/or enzyme cocktail capable of accelerating the conversion of the remaining fermentable sugars into ethanol and other chemicals. Making ethanol and other chemicals comprises: (a) providing a biomass-derived material comprising a plant polysaccharide; (b) incubating the biomass-derived material with a first culture comprising cell of Clostridium phytofermentans under anaerobic conditions to hydrolyze at least a portion of the plant polysaccharide, where the cells of the culture incorporate at least a portion of the hydrolyzed plant polysaccharide as an intracellular compound; (c) lysing the cells of Clostridium phytofermentans to produce a lysed broth; (d) inoculating the lysed broth with a second culture comprising an anaerobic microorganism capable of converting fermentable sugars into ethanol and/or other chemicals; and (e) fermenting the inoculated anaerobic broth until at least a portion of the fermentable sugars have been converted into ethanol and/or other chemicals. In making a material suitable as a fuel, a portion of the material suitable as a fuel is recovered from the fermented anaerobic broth. The plant-derived material is pretreated prior to the inoculation with a cellulolytic aerobic microorganism. The material suitable as a fuel comprises ethanol. In producing a biofuel, the first culture of non-genetically modified bacterium is Clostridium phytofermentans. The second culture of a microorganism is selected from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Zymomonas mobilis, Clostridium acetobutylicum, Clostridium phytofermentans, Clostridium thermocellum, or Clostridium cellovorans. The process further comprises separating and recovering the converted biofuel from the residual biomass and cultures. The biomass includes cellulose and hemi-cellulose containing materials. It also includes lignin. The process further comprises contacting the biomass with aqueous alkaline solution at a concentration sufficient to hydrolyze at least a portion of the lignin-containing biomass and neutralizing the treated biomass to a pH of 7-8. Producing a biofuel comprises subjecting biomass which includes cellulose and hemi-cellulose containing plant materials to fermentation under mesophilic conditions in the presence of co-cultures of C. phytofermentans and a second Clostridium species selected from C. acetobutylicum, C. thermocellum, or C. cellovorans, where the ratio of the cultures is in an amount where the conversion ratios of cellulose:ethanol and hemi-cellulose:ethanol are greater than the ratios obtained by use of either C. phytofermentans or the second Clostridium species alone. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.