Biology: aerobic vs anaerobic respiration

Tutoring biology, respiration is a topic. The tutor compares aerobic with anaerobic.

Respiration, on a cellular level, means reacting a fuel (typically glucose) to produce energy. If the reaction depends on oxygen, it’s aerobic; if not, then it’s anaerobic.

Curiously, aerobic and anaerobic respiration begin the same way, with glycolysis (see my post here).

Human cells use aerobic respiration, which is why humans need to breathe in oxygen to survive. Some bacteria can only use anaerobic respiration, since oxygen is poisonous to them. However, anaerobic respiration tends to under-utilize the energy potential of glucose.

Source:

nih.gov

bio.libretexts.org