LAUSR

Abstract Solid organic wastes (SOWs) are abundant resources that can be used for conversion to biofuels. Among various conversion technologies, anaerobic digestion (AD) is one of the most promising for management of SOWs because of the production of methane rich biogas and recycling of nutrients. This review consolidates and summarizes research associated with characterization of SOWs, and the advantages/limitations of various performance-enhancing strategies associated with SOWs with the hope to further promote development and industrial applications of the AD technology. Performance-enhancing strategies surveyed include: (1) parameter optimization, (2) physical, chemical, and biological pretreatments, (3) additives, (4) co-digestion, (5) bioreactor design, (6) genetic engineering of enzymes and microbial strains, and (7) coupling technologies of multiple enhancing techniques. Industrial applications of these strategies in AD are also discussed. Finally, current state of AD of SOWs to energy is compiled and several future development prospects of strategies in enhancing biogas production are highlighted.