We evaluated a more practical and cost-effective immobilization carriers for ethanolproduction using the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae. Three candidate materials-rice hull, rice straw, and sawdust-were tested for their cell-adsorption capacity and operational durability. Derivatizations of rice hull, rice straw, and sawdust with the optimal concentration of 0.5 M of 2-(diethylamino)ethyl chloride hydrochloride (DEAE . HCl) resulted in > 95% adsorption of the initial yeastcells at 2 hr for DEAE-rice hull and DEAE-sawdust and in only approximately 80% adsorption for DEAE-rice straw. In addition, DEAE-sawdust was found to be a more practical carrier for immobilizing yeastcells in terms of operational durability in shaking flask cultures with two different speeds of 60 and 150 rpm. Furthermore, the biosorption isotherms of DEAE-rice hull, -rice straw, and -sawdust for yeastcells revealed that the Qmax of DEAE-sawdust (82.6 mg/g) was greater than that of DEAE-rice hull and DEAE-rice straw. During the 404-hr of continuous column reactor operation using yeastcells immobilized on DEAE-sawdust, no serious detachment of the yeastcells from the DEAE-sawdust was recorded. Ethanol yield of approximately 3.04 g/L was produced steadily, and glucose was completely converted to ethanol at a yield of 0.375 g-ethanol/g-glucose (73.4% of the theoretical value). Thus, sawdust is a promising practical immobilization carrier for ethanolproduction, with significance in the production of bioethanol as a biofuel.