Using lignocellulosic materials as a feedstock to produce ethanol is an alternative to cleaner energy production. The pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis steps play a role in breaking down the lignocellulosic structure and making the sugars available for fermentation. Non-ionic surfactants have been included in the cellulosic ethanol production process to increase ethanol titers. Non-ionic surfactants commonly contribute to the enzymatic digestion of lignocelluloses, but there are doubts about whether they are beneficial or harmful in the pretreatment and ethanol fermentation steps. This study evaluated Tween 80 (polysorbate 80) in pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae PE2 to obtain ethanol from green coconut fiber (GCF). To reduce the GCF's recalcitrance and to increase enzyme accessibility, the material was pretreated using steam explosion (severity factor of 3.71 and 4.24), alkaline (sodium hydroxide), and sequential steam explosion/alkaline pretreatment in the presence of the surfactant. The surfactant did not increase delignification in steam explosion pretreatment, but it increased the sugar release when compared to the pretreatments without Tween 80. The addition of the surfactant during enzymatic hydrolysis increased glucose production in all experiments. Adsorption experiments showed that Tween 80 increased enzymatic activity. The highest glucose production was 20.31 +/- 0.48 g/L and cellulosic conversion of 65.12\% after adding 1.0\% (w/v) Tween 80 in sequential steam explosion/alkaline pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) and semi-simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSSF) strategies were investigated with the surfactant addition. When 2.0\% (w/v) Tween 80 was added in all fermentations, it hindered ethanol production. A fed-batch SSSF and nonisothermal-fedbatch-SSSF were also performed, along with an enzyme fed-batch strategy. The highest ethanol concentration achieved was 48.21 +/- 1.13 g/L by adding 1.0\% (w/v) Tween 80 to the nonisothermal-fed-SSSF with 30\% (w/v) solid loading.