ABSTRACT
Energy is sometimes referred to as the lifeblood of our societies, for fuels are used to drive virtually all human activities. Anaerobic digestion (or methanogenic fermentation) is an effective method for the generation of alternative energy, as biogas, and for the ecological treatment of organic wastes. The anaerobic fermentation of organic residues seems attractive when the organic substrate, like wastes, or organic material, like lignite, is available in large quantities on-site, which obviates the need for expensive transportation to the fermentor. Methanogenic fermentation can be considered as a three-stage process, which requires the syntrophic interaction of metabolically different groups of bacteria. Methanogenesis in hypersaline environments has recently attracted great attention. Although methanogenic bacteria and the extreme halophilic bacteria are both members of the archaebacteriakingdom, there is relatively little known about methanogens or methanogenesis in hypersaline ecosystems.
