Improvement of methane generation capacity by aerobic pre-treatment of organic waste with a cellulolytic Trichoderma viride culture

•A biological, aerobic pre-treatment with T. viride was evaluated.•By aerobic pre-incubation the methane yield could be increased up to 400%.•An increased nutrient availability seemed to be caused by the pre-incubation.

Trichoderma viride is known as a potent cellulose decomposer and was successfully used to improve and accelerate the decomposition process of aerobic composting. In contrast, the role of fungi as pre-treatment organisms for anaerobic digestion is not clear, since the fast aerobic decomposition is thought to be responsible for a rapid depletion of easily available nutrients, leading to a lack of these for the anaerobic community. In the present study carried out in lab-scale, the application of T. viride for the aerobic pre-incubation of organic matter derived from the inlet port of a 750,000 L anaerobic digester led to an increase in total gas and methane production in a subsequent anaerobic digestion step. A high cellulase activity caused by the addition of T. viride seemed to be responsible for a better nutrient availability for anaerobic microorganisms. Therefore, aerobic pre-incubation of organic residues with T. viride for subsequent anaerobic digestion is a promising approach in order to increase methane yields.