In the present work, a comparison between ethanol stripping with CO2 and N2 (an inert gas) during the batch extractive fermentations was evaluated in order to verify a possible negative effect of CO2 on yeast cells. Firstly, a conventional fermentation (without ethanol removal) was performed as control, which resulted in ethanol productivity of 9.1 g.L-1.h-1. Subsequently, the extractive fermentations were carried out employing CO2 (FE-CO2) and N2 (FE-N2) as gas stripping, resulting in ethanol productivities of 11.4 and 11.3 g.L-1.h- 1, respectively (around 25% higher than conventional). The results obtained showed that both gases have potential to be used as gas stripping in extractive ethanol fermentation. Moreover, the carbon dioxide did not negatively affect the fermentation process.