CELSS research

>>I don't know which one will ultimately be "better",
and it may be
that one is better in one situation (e.g., composting
on the energy-poor
surface of Mars) and another in another situation
(e.g., wet oxidation in
an energy-rich orbital habitat).<<

I think you are right. We usually don't think from an
energy rich perspective like we would have in orbit.
There might not be any reason to waste the time on the
wet process there. On the moon or mars though you
might want to use the wet process. The bacteria
produce methane which could be run through a fuel cell
to produce additional energy.