ABSTRACT
As supplies of fossil fuels dwindle and the global warming crisis increases, there is a strong demand for new energy from renewable sources with minimal negative environmental impact. Signicant efforts have been devoted to develop alternative electricity production methods, such as solar, geothermal, wind, nuclear and bioenergy technologies [1,2]. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a new approach for harvesting bioelectricity from biomass without net carbon emission. Any biodegradable organic matter, including sediments, organic solid wastes, low-strength wastewater, wastewaters containing volatile fatty acids, proteins, recalcitrant cellulose, and even highly concentrated nitrate and/or sulphate, can be used as the substrates for MFCs. The catalysts, electron-producing bacteria, for organic matter oxidation in MFCs are self-sustaining because bacteria can self-replicate during the fuel cell operation. MFCs have many operational and functional advantages, such as high-energy conversion rate (direct conversion of chemical energy stored in substrates into electricity without biogas-electricity conversion), lowenergy input, free of aeration and off-gas treatment, and promising potential for widespread applications in locations lack of electrical infrastructures (e.g. rural and polar areas). Besides electricity production, MFCs can also be used for producing biogases, powering devices and acting as bio-sensors (see Section 2.6).
