Providing anaerobic digestion is a prospective technology for utilizing organic waste, however, for waste with a high content of nitrogen such as manure, dilution is necessary to decrease the ammonia inhibition effect which leads to the production of a huge effluent amount which is difficult to use. Dry anaerobic digestion has some advantages such as reduced reactor volume, higher volumetric methane yield, lower energy consumption for heating, less wastewater production, and lower logistic costs for fertilizers. These factors generate interest in using it for treatment of even high-nitrogen substrates. The purpose of this work was to analyze different dry anaerobic digestion technologies, the features of dry anaerobic digestion, laboratory studies on chicken manure dry anaerobic digestion, and methods of reducing inhibitors’ effects. Nowadays, there are no dry anaerobic industrial plants working on chicken manure. However, studies on dry anaerobic digestion of chicken manure have proven the possibility of methane production under fermentation of chicken manure with high total solids content, but the process has been described as being unstable. Co-fermentation, ammonium/ammonia removal, and adaptation of the microbial consortium have been used to decrease the effect of ammonia inhibition. A prospective way for ammonia concentration control is absorption using a non-volatile sorbent located in the reactor. It decreases ammonia content during wet anaerobic digestion by 33% and it is characterized by having a positive economic effect. Therefore, dry anaerobic fermentation of chicken manure is possible, but there is still no efficient way to provide it. The results of this article should be helpful in the selection of anaerobic digestion technology for treating chicken manure.

Dark fermentative biohydrogen (H₂) production could become a key technology for providing renewable energy. Until now, the H₂ yield is restricted to 4 moles of H₂ per mole of glucose, referred to as the “Thauer limit”. Here we show, that precision design of artificial microbial consortia increased the H₂ yield to 5.6 mol mol⁻¹ glucose, 40% higher than the Thauer limit. In addition, the volumetric H₂ production rates of our defined artificial consortia are superior compared to any mono-, co- or multi-culture system reported to date. We hope this study to be a major leap forward in the engineering of artificial microbial consortia through precision design and provide a breakthrough in energy science, biotechnology and ecology. Constructing artificial consortia with this drawing-board approach could in future increase volumetric production rates and yields of other bioprocesses. Our artificial consortia engineering blueprint might pave the way for the development of a H₂ production bioindustry.