Chemical and enzymatic sequential pretreatment of oat straw for methane production

► Oat straw was sequentially pretreated to improve saccharification. ► Acid and enzymatic pretreatment allowed to solubilize hemicellulose and cellulose. ► Hydrolysates rich in fermentable sugars were used to feed high rate anaerobic reactors. ► Methane was produced from the hydrolysates at high yield and organic loading rates.