The degradation rate and efficiency of digestion processes is typically measured by introducing a substrate or pollutant into a digester and then monitoring the effluents for the pollutant or substrate, a costly and slow process. A new method for rapid measurement of the rates and efficiencies of anaerobic degradation of pollutants and lignocellulose substrates from various pretreatments is described. The method uses micro-reactors (10-30 mL) containing a mixed culture of anaerobic bacteria obtained from a working anaerobic digester. The rate of degradation of pollutants and metabolic heat rate are measured in parallel sets of micro-reactors. Measurement of metabolic rate and pollutant degradation simultaneously is an effective means of rapidly examining pollutant degradation on a micro-scale. Calorimetric measurements alone allow rapid, relative evaluation of various substrate pretreatment methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.