In order to utilize energy grasses as substrates for production of biofuels and expand the diversity of lignocellulosic feedstocks, this work developed an evaluation system considering 16 kinds of parameters related to the contents of three main compositions (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin), inhibitors generated from the pretreatment, the extent of enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. Giant reed, corn stalks, switch grass, pennisetum and silvergrass were investigated. Comprehensive utilization indexes of giant reed (55.0) and corn stalks (40.6) revealed that giant reed had the potential for producing biofuels but corn stalks, widely used in bio-ethanol and xylitol production, possessed high contents of inhibitors which were harmful to microbial fermentation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.