Using Escherichia coli for installing and maintaining anaerobiosis for hydrogen production by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 is a cost-effective approach for industrial hydrogen production, as it does not require reducing agents or sparging with inert gases. This study was devoted for investigating the feasibility for installing and maintaining anaerobiosis of hydrogen production by C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824 when using E. coli HD701 utilizable versus non utilizable sugars as a-carbon source. Using E. coli HD701 for installing anaerobiosis showed a comparable hydrogen production yield and efficiency to the use of reducing agents and nitrogen sparging in case of hydrogen production from the E. coli HD701 non utilizable sugars. In contrast, using E. coli HD701 for installing anaerobiosis showed a lower hydrogen production yield and efficiency than the use of reducing agents and nitrogen sparging in case of using glucose as a substrate. This is possibly because E. colt HD701 when using glucose compensate for the substrate, and produce hydrogen with lower efficiency than C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824. These results indicated that the use of E. coli HD701 for installing anaerobiosis would not be economically feasible when using E. coli HD701 utilizable sugars as a carbon source. In contrast, the use of this approach for installing anaerobiosis for hydrogen production from sucrose and starch would have a high potency for industrial applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.