This study aimed at maximizing the energy yields from food waste in a three-step conversion scheme coupling dark fermentation (DF), photofermentation (PF) and anaerobic digestion (AD). Continuous H-2 production was investigated over a period of nearly 200 days in a thermophilic semi-continuous DF process with no pH control. The highest H-2 yield of 121.45 +/- 44.55 N L H-2/kg VS was obtained at an organic loading rate of 2.5 kg VS/m(3)/d and a hydraulic retention time of 4 days. The DF effluents mainly contained volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and alcohols as metabolites and un-hydrolyzed solid residues. The supernatant, after separation, was used to recover H-2 in a PF using Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The solid residual fraction along with PP effluent was converted into methane by anaerobic digestion. By combining DF and PF, the H-2 yield from the food waste increased 1.75 fold. Moreover, by adding AD as a post treatment of the DF residue, the total energy yield was substantially increased to reach 5.55 MJ/kg VSfood (waste) added, versus 3.55 MJ/kg VSfood waste when applying solely AD. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.