Tham khảo tài liệu 'progress in biomass and bioenergy production part 15', kỹ thuật - công nghệ, cơ khí - chế tạo máy phục vụ nhu cầu học tập, nghiên cứu và làm việc hiệu quả | 21 Microbial Conversion of Biomass A Review of Microbial Fuel Cells Cagil Ozansoy and Ruby Heard School of Engineering and Science Victoria University Melbourne Victoria Australia 1. Introduction The cleaner generation of energy is a vital concept if we are to ensure the survival of our current lifestyle past the depletion of the Earth s fossil fuel supply. The study described in this chapter investigates the alternative energy producing method of microbial conversion of biomass to produce electrical energy. Currently techniques are being explored to minimise the cost of building and running cells in which microbial conversion takes place. There are several areas where improvements may be made including the physical design of the cell the catalyst used in the cathode chamber the membrane material and the ideal lowcost substrate. The study presented in this chapter provides a review of Microbial Fuel Cells MFCs and discusses the design and construction of MFCs and presents the results of tests carried out with a number of constructed cells. There is no doubt that the world s increasing population is rapidly depleting planet s finite energy resources. It is common knowledge today that the techniques developed to produce electricity and run our vehicles have also been leading to temperature rises resulting in climate changes all over the world. Currently the world consumes approximately 13 Terawatts of power Chae et al. 2009 every year while a mere 20 of this is produced from renewable sources Hopwood Cohen 2000 . Techniques of harnessing energy from renewable sources are continuously being further developed all over the world but are still yet to reach the efficiency levels which would make these techniques comparable to the traditional yet unsustainable coal-fired generation. The discovery of a process in which bacteria are utilised in the fermentation of organic substrates to produce electricity can assist with the transition towards more sustainable ways of energy
