From giant reed to levulinic acid and gamma-valerolactone: A high yield catalytic route to valeric biofuels

► Acid hydrothermal conversion of giant reed to levulinic acid. ► Giant reed results easily hydrolyzable. ► Direct synthesis of γ-valerolactone from giant reed with bifunctional catalysts. ► The combination of Ru/C and niobium phosphate favors the hydrogenation step. ► High yields in γ-valerolactone respect to the dry biomass.