Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development

Currently, access to electricity in the cities of the Global South is so limited that electrification remains low in rural areas. Unless properly tackled, one-third of the world’s cities will suffer from energy scarcity. The emergence of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology accelerates the deploymen...

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Main Authors: Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Liang, Xue, Muhammad Ayub, Goh, Hui Hwang, Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko, Ayesha Mohyuddin, Chew, Kit Wayne
Other Authors: School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/169392
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1693922023-07-21T15:31:46Z Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman Liang, Xue Muhammad Ayub Goh, Hui Hwang Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko Ayesha Mohyuddin Chew, Kit Wayne School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology Engineering::Chemical engineering Carbon Neutrality Circular Economy Currently, access to electricity in the cities of the Global South is so limited that electrification remains low in rural areas. Unless properly tackled, one-third of the world’s cities will suffer from energy scarcity. The emergence of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology accelerates the deployment of decentralized and sustainable energy solutions that can address the looming energy shortage. This review consolidates scattered knowledge into one article about the performance of MFC in optimizing electricity generation from phosphorus (P)-laden wastewater, while removing the target nutrient from wastewater simultaneously. It is obvious from a literature survey of 108 published articles (1999–2022) that the applications of MFC for building a self-powered municipal water treatment system represents an important breakthrough, as this enables water treatment operators to generate electricity without affecting the atmospheric balance of CO2. Using a pyrite-based wetland MFC, about 91% of P was removed after operating 180 days, while generating power output of 48 A/m2. Unlike other techniques, MFCs utilize bacteria that act as micro-reactors and allow substrates to be oxidized completely. The Earth’s tiniest inhabitants can efficiently transform the chemical energy of organic matter in unused wastewater either into hydrogen gas or electricity. This facilitates wastewater treatment plants powering themselves in daily operation or selling electricity on the market. This MFC technology radically changes how to treat wastewater universally. By exploring this direction along the water–energy–food nexus, MFC technology could transform wastewater treatment plants into a key sustainability tool in the energy sector. This suggests that MFCs provide a practical solution that addresses the need of global society for clean water and electricity simultaneously. Published version The research was funded by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Research Grants No. Q.J130000.21A6.00P14 and No. Q.J130000.3809. 22H07. 2023-07-17T08:08:40Z 2023-07-17T08:08:40Z 2022 Journal Article Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman, Liang, X., Muhammad Ayub, Goh, H. H., Kusworo, T. D., Ayesha Mohyuddin & Chew, K. W. (2022). Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development. Sustainability, 14(24), 16847-. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142416847 2071-1050 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/169392 10.3390/su142416847 2-s2.0-85144402484 24 14 16847 en Sustainability © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Chemical engineering
Carbon Neutrality
Circular Economy
spellingShingle Engineering::Chemical engineering
Carbon Neutrality
Circular Economy
Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono
Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
Liang, Xue
Muhammad Ayub
Goh, Hui Hwang
Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko
Ayesha Mohyuddin
Chew, Kit Wayne
Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
description Currently, access to electricity in the cities of the Global South is so limited that electrification remains low in rural areas. Unless properly tackled, one-third of the world’s cities will suffer from energy scarcity. The emergence of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology accelerates the deployment of decentralized and sustainable energy solutions that can address the looming energy shortage. This review consolidates scattered knowledge into one article about the performance of MFC in optimizing electricity generation from phosphorus (P)-laden wastewater, while removing the target nutrient from wastewater simultaneously. It is obvious from a literature survey of 108 published articles (1999–2022) that the applications of MFC for building a self-powered municipal water treatment system represents an important breakthrough, as this enables water treatment operators to generate electricity without affecting the atmospheric balance of CO2. Using a pyrite-based wetland MFC, about 91% of P was removed after operating 180 days, while generating power output of 48 A/m2. Unlike other techniques, MFCs utilize bacteria that act as micro-reactors and allow substrates to be oxidized completely. The Earth’s tiniest inhabitants can efficiently transform the chemical energy of organic matter in unused wastewater either into hydrogen gas or electricity. This facilitates wastewater treatment plants powering themselves in daily operation or selling electricity on the market. This MFC technology radically changes how to treat wastewater universally. By exploring this direction along the water–energy–food nexus, MFC technology could transform wastewater treatment plants into a key sustainability tool in the energy sector. This suggests that MFCs provide a practical solution that addresses the need of global society for clean water and electricity simultaneously.
author2 School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
author_facet School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology
Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono
Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
Liang, Xue
Muhammad Ayub
Goh, Hui Hwang
Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko
Ayesha Mohyuddin
Chew, Kit Wayne
format Article
author Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono
Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
Liang, Xue
Muhammad Ayub
Goh, Hui Hwang
Kusworo, Tutuk Djoko
Ayesha Mohyuddin
Chew, Kit Wayne
author_sort Kurniawan. Tonni Agustiono
title Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
title_short Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
title_full Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
title_fullStr Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
title_full_unstemmed Microbial fuel cells (MFC): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
title_sort microbial fuel cells (mfc): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development
publishDate 2023
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/169392
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