Abstract The aim of this work was to evaluate the economic feasibility of the bioethanol production (BEP) based on olive tree pruning (OTP) as a biomass feedstock with optimization of the dilute acid pretreatment in focus. For this, the BEP was simulated taking into account the influence of the operating conditions of the pretreatment stage. Then, the techno-economic results were analyzed by means of the response surface methodology (RSM). The results show that lowest price of BE was 1.94 USD l −1 with a yield of 174.12 l t −1 OTP under optimal conditions. As a conclusion, the raw material cost has a strong influence in the economic feasibility of the BEP from OTP. The inclusion of other processing lines into the process would improve the process economy.