ReviewBioelectrochemical conversion of waste to energy using microbial fuel cell technology
Graphical abstract
Introduction
Energy is an indispensable component of our society to support day-to-day activities like powering home appliances, lighting, transportation, heating/cooling, and communication to industrial processes [1]. The global energy consumption was around 520 quadrillion BTUs (British Thermal Units) in 2010 and is expected to shoot up by 56% by 2040 [2]. Fig. 1 shows the distribution of energy resources in 2020 i.e. 76% of our global energy consumption comes from non-renewable resources like coal, petroleum, natural gas while only 16% of the energy comes from renewable energy sources [3]. Diminishing reserves and rapidly increasing energy consumption clearly suggest that we must act urgently and decisively to develop clean, sustainable, affordable and renewable energy sources [1].
The exhaustion of fossil fuels is not the only concern but the pollution they cause when burnt in the form of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) like CO2, NOx, SOx, is also a matter of great concern [4], [5]. These gasses tend to deteriorate the environmental condition by causing harmful effects to the environment like global warming, ozone depletion beside many others. Also, with conventions like Kyoto protocol and Paris agreement forcing to limit the use of non-renewable sources [6], there is an urgent need for a technique which not only is renewable but also adds less to the already growing pollution rate. Here, waste which is biodegradable and renewable can serve as a good source for generating energy, controlling pollution and reducing the dependence on fossil fuels [5].
For centuries, the convenient solution to waste management was to bury waste or dump it into rivers, seas which are not a sustainable solution because GHGs would be produced if the waste is burned or buried and when improperly vented can explode. Waste to Energy (WTE) is a proven, environmentally sound process that provides reliable energy generation and sustainable disposal of post-recycling waste [1]. New policies to encourage WTE can have a substantial effect on reducing the world’s GHG emissions [7]. In fact, worldwide use of the WTE technology can become one of the biggest contributors to planned reduction in GHG emissions [8].
Energy from waste is not just about waste management, but it also contributes to energy security for future. WTE can provide clean energy, recovers and recycles metals thus reducing mining operation and also complements recycling and reduces landfilling [8], [9]. Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) has the potential of generating around 23.3 and 40 TW of electricity from wastewater produced in India (urban areas) by 2025 and 2050 respectively. Thus, there is a tremendous scope for development and implementation of MFC technology for better waste treatment along with energy recovery [8], [10]. This article reviews MFC as a WTE technique for the effective waste removal with simultaneous electricity production with a focus on Indian scenario of MFC research.
Section snippets
Traditional technologies for waste-to-energy (WTE)
There are some prerequisites for selecting a technology for converting WTE such as efficiency of the process itself, local environmental impact, especially in terms of by-products, planning, reliability and lifetime of waste feedstock, are essential factors which must be taken care of while selecting a new technology [8]. A number of technologies are available for WTE such as incineration, pyrolysis, gasification (thermochemical processes) and anaerobic digestion (AD) biological process [11],
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology
MFCs are the devices that have the property of utilizing microbes as the catalyst and converting the chemical energy stored in the chemical compounds into electrical energy [36]. During microbial catalyzed oxidation at the anode, electrons and protons are generated. The electrons will flow towards cathode through the external circuit while proton will migrate through the membrane to maintain electrical neutrality. The potential difference thus created depends upon the nature of the association
Kinetics
Microbial growth kinetics has been the subject of many scientific studies and has many implications on our society [111]. Many researchers have studied the microbial growth and utilization of contaminants of the environment as substrate. Substrate utilization results in the removal of chemical contaminants, through their biodegradation with an increase in microbial biomass. They all aimed their research at detoxification of pollutants of the environment [112]. Microbial growth and physiology
Energy recovery from wastewater using MFC technology − a case study of India
India accounts for 2.45% (3.287 million km2) of land area and 4% of water resources of the world but represents 16.9% of the world population. In the recent years, the level of the population has been increased at a very fast rate. It is estimated that by 2050, India will become the most populous country on the earth with about 17.2% population living here. The total projected per capita water availability and wastewater generation from urban areas by the year 2050 is given in Fig. 6 (a,b). The
Future perspectives
MFC is a novel technology gaining interest among the researchers across the globe. Researchers have developed different MFCs with improved designs to convert more and more WTE. But the application lags when comes to the large scale. Some issues relating to the application of MFC on a large scale are discussed below which needs to be addressed in future for proper utilization of this technology. Mobile phone batteries can be directly charged by a stack of MFCs feeding on urine [90]. Electricity
Conclusions
In a nut shell, MFC is a novel bio-technique that targets two crucial problems the world is facing at the moment- scarcity of clean water and the increasing demand for energy. The simultaneous production of clean water and energy makes this technology exclusive in its way. This article summarizes various integrations of MFC that have been developed by researchers across the globe to improve its performance for practical applications and to expand the dimensions of MFC technology by using
Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to Department of Chemistry, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh to support the project. Authors are also thankful to University Grants Commission for departmental research support in the form of DRS II Grant. We would also like to acknowledge our collaborators at the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne for their valuable suggestions and editing.
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