This paper presents a system to upgrade faecal matter in an environmentally friendly way by the deployment of plasma gasification and SOFC (solid oxide fuel cells). The entire system chain, including a dryer, a microwave-assisted plasma gasifier, a gas processing system and an SOFC system, is studied to evaluate system performance and self-sustainability. The effects of gas processing approach, moisture content and oxidant-to-fuel ratio on system self-sustainability are studied in detail. The results show that the variables aforementioned strongly affect system performance. It is recommended to deploy the approach of adding air, a mild moisture content (30% by weight) and an intermediate oxidant to fuel ratio (1.05 kg kg(-1)) to achieve enhanced system performance under the conditions studied. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.