"The main objective of the ANAMIX project is to build a two year exchange programme among three of the leading worldwide research groups centered around ANAerobic MIXed cultures. More specifically, ANAMIX is dedicated to study and improve biological generation of chemicals and energy carriers from organic residues generated by agro-industrial activities. Effective leveraging of organic residues derived from human activity will be of vital importance for establishment of a sustainable society. More than 60% of all organic material obtained from agriculture is currently not made available for the production of chemicals or the generation of energy carriers. These residues generated include highly complex waste streams like pig manure, as well as more readily degradable mixtures of substrates like molasses, vinasses, and wastewaters generated during food processing. For processing of these streams, (genetically modified) pure culture based industrial biotechnology is generally not a prosperous route. The processes we intend to investigate in this project can overcome these limitations because they are based on natural ecosystems. The basic principle of these Anaerobic Mixed culture based processes is the establishment of the proper process conditions to direct the flow of electrons in a complex network of microorganisms to the product required. Anaerobic fermentative systems are ideal, as they allow for minimization of biomass that can be regarded as an unwanted side product in these processes. Valuable and realistic products are molecular hydrogen, methane rich biogas, solvents like ethanol and butanol, or the direct generation of electricity in so called microbial fuel cells. Many of these can be directly utilized in end-use applications, without further energy input. The scientific challenge in developing these processes is to identify and verify the biochemical driving forces for the establishment of specific production processes in mixed microbial environments."