We have run with stories regarding fuel cells which produce electricity using bacteria before, so the technology being shown off by Oregon State University is not particularly new. But, the amount of electricity being generated using such a solution is in fact a big increase. What I find really interesting is the applications that the University researchers can see for their new fuel cell. Did you know that 5 percent of all the electricity consumed in the U.S. was used for the treatment of water and waste water? I didn't. Being that this waste water is an excellent source for bacteria and the "food" for them to feed off, the idea is that the electricity generated could feed back into the plant while the clean water that is produced from the fuel cell could feed back into the fresh water output. Using a method such as this could have a big impact in developing countries, and could even find use in smaller applications like rural and remote homes in the States. Renewable energy using your own waste, how lovely!

[Source: Oregon State University]

Cellulose is everywhere in the plant world and contains tremendous amounts of untapped energy. The problem is the long chains of sugars that make up cellulose is tough to break apart, something well known to ethanol researchers. Fuel cells are able to harness chemical reactions to release electrons that can be used as a power source. While hydrogen is the best known input for fuel cells it is by no means the only one.

Researchers at Penn State University are developing a microbial fuel cell that consumes cellulose and generates electricity. They are doing this by combining two types of bacteria, one that can break down the cellulose into simpler sugars and ferment it and another that takes the fermented product and generates electricity. Unfortunately the two chamber design that is required to make this work results in very low power density currently at 150 mW per square meter. The team is looking for ways to improve on this.

[Source: Penn State University]

You really wouldn't think that there would be so many ways of creating energy from a substance that supposedly had most of it's energy extracted through digestion... but, in addition to urine, we can make electricity from poop too! The secret is in the microbial bacteria. NASA is working on a technology that converts the space-waste of the astronaut's into electricity via microbial fuel cells. The fuel cell relies on Geobacter microbes which generate electricity while they decompose organic material.

Pennsylvania State University is using a microbial fuel cell to generate electricity as it purifies water. This really does make sense to me. And, apparently to Dr. Bruce Rittmann, a professor at Northwestern University who is leading the research on these fuel cells at NASA. "You have to treat the wastes anyway," points out Rittmann. "So why not make the process an energy gainer, instead of an energy loser? By producing electricity, microbial fuel cells would make the process of purifying waste streams much more economical." Moreover, he says, "they change our focus. Microbial fuel cells transform something we think of as undesirable into a resource."

Remember that fuel cells came into being for space missions, and are now finding their way into cars. Will microbial fuel cells make the same jump?

Oh, this sentence bears repeating: This post (again) extends our history of bringing you strange human (!) and animal-waste derived methods of automotive greenery! YUMMY!

[Source: Space.com via Hugg]