Due to replanting activities large quantities of oil-palm trunks will be generated annually in Malaysia starting from this decade. A project was initiated to study the feasibility of converting palm trunks into glucose which could then be used to produce ethanol. The palm trunks were hydrolysed using different concentrations of sulphuric acid. Two sets of experiments were performed. In one set, the palm trunks were hydrolysed without prior treatment with NaOH, while in the second set the sample was treated first with NaOH before being subjected to acid hydrolysis. Glucose yield was found to be dependent on acid concentration as well as NaOH treatment. For samples that were treated with NaOH, yields were generally higher than those not treated. Maximum glucose yield was at a hydrolysing acid concentration of about 1.7%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.