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The First International Symposium on Microbial Fuel
Cells in China - November 3-4, 2008 - Harbin, China
More info here:
http://me.hit.edu.cn/mfc/index.html or download the
announcement:
here
Promotional MFC event
in the European
Parliament - September 17, 2008 - Brussels, Belgium
More
info here:
www.eabworkshop.org
Download the free registration form:
here
Advertisement for a
Marie curie Transfer of
knowledge post-doctoral researcher
There is a position for an experienced researchers
available in the Microbial Bioenergy (MB) group of the
Environmental Change Institute (ECI), National
University of Ireland, Galway. For more information,
have a look
here.
Open
Workshop on
Biological Fuel Cells - July 23-25, 2008 -
Guildford,
Surrey,
UK
More information:
http://www.biologicalfuelcells.org.uk/workshop-2008.html
Workshop on
electrochemically active biofilms - November 19-21, 2008 - Paris,
France
"From fundamental to microbial power plants:
electrochemically active biofilms" to be held near Paris on
November 19-21, 2008
More information:
www.eabworkshop.org
Microbial
Fuel Cells: Press Coverage
Dr. Bruce Rittmann
talks about microbial fuel cells in a Bioremediation
segment of ASU spotlight in PBS channel 8. To watch the
reportages click on the two links:
Movie 1 &
Movie 2
MFCs on the Science
Channel- Science Channel airs the program Invention
Nation. In the Episode "Smart Living", there is a
segment on microbial fuel cells from pig manure at the
Center for Environmental Biotechnology. The Episode
aired originally on Feb 10 and will be repeated on Feb
17, 25, 26 and March 2, 15, 16. Click
HERE for more info.
Follow the links below, to read
about the recent work of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University (USA) - The
Center for Environmental Biotechnology (CEB):
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2008/01/04/bacteria_used_to_power_fuel_cell/8011/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080103101137.htm
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/01/the-biofilm-mat.html
Book:
Microbial Fuel Cells, by B.E.
Logan
This book
will be available from John Wiley & Sons on December 7, 2007.
To order now,
call 887-762-2974 (Toll free number in the
USA), or go to Wiley.com and
order noting the ISBN number 978-0-470-23948-3
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470239484,descCd-description.html
Note the book
publication date is officially 2008 (not 2007).
Microbial Fuel Cells: The first
international symposium @ Penn State, May 27-29, 2008
Please mark your calendars and
plan to attend the first ever symposium dedicated to
bioelectricity or hydrogen production using microbial fuel cell
technologies (MFCs). Presentations will include invited and
contributed talks and posters from researchers from around the
world working on different aspects of MFCs including:
- System architecture
- Power densities
- Innovative materials
- Exoelectrogenic bacteria
and genomics
- Electrochemistry and
analysis
- Reactor stability and
efficiency
- Biohydrogen production
The symposium will be held on
the Penn State campus (University Park, PA), located in central
Pennsylvania, with easy access directly by air (code SCE) or by
car from several major airports in nearby cities.
More info:
http://www.outreach.psu.edu/programs/microbial-fuel-cell/index.html
Bruce Logan (blogan@psu.edu)
& Jay Regan (jregan@psu.edu)
A link to a story about MFC on the cover of a
Environmental Health Perspectives magazine a couple of
years ago can be found here:
http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/113-11/innovations.html
Microbial fuel cells on the Australian
Radio (27-08-2007)
By
clicking HERE you
can listen to an interview with Jurg Keller, director of AWMC,
about microbial fuel cells on the Australian national radio.
Microbial fuel cells on the Australian
Television
If you want
to have a closer look on microbial fuel cells in the lab and how
they can be used to generate electricity out of beer waste
water, have a look at this nice movie. This movie was
broadcasted on the
Australian
television to promote The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes which
reward the achievements of scientists that make a difference to
our lives.
Windows
Media
High Speed |
Low Speed
Real Media
High Speed |
Low Speed
Brewing a sustainable energy
solution
-- published by
UQnews Online
A joint project between UQ and Foster's to turn beer wastewater
into electricity has won $140,000 from the Queensland
Government's Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund.
The team from UQ's Advanced
Wastewater Management Centre (AWMC) was one of six presented
with the funding by Minister for Environment Lindy Nelson-Carr
at Foster's Yatala brewery this morning.
 AWMC postdoctoral research fellow Dr Korneel Rabaey said the
technology worked by creating a microbial fuel cell, which feeds
continuously on the organics in the brewery wastewater, turning
it into watts.
The process also produces clean water and renewable (non-polluting)
carbon dioxide.
Dr Rabaey said with the current drought, the smart use of
natural resources had never been more important.
“Energy and water supply are among the biggest challenges we
will face in the coming decades,” he said.
“Therefore, we must learn how to diversify our portfolio of
fuels – and we must learn to reduce our energy and water usage.”
AWMC Director
Professor
Jurg Keller said the focus in wastewater management had
shifted away from simply treating waste, to recovering valuable
resources such as water, energy and nutrients.
“Technology that can do this should be supported, therefore the
decision by the Queensland Government to support this project is
a very important signal, both to universities and industry,” he
said.
The team's work is in collaboration with the University of Ghent,
Belgium, and is backed by a $1.3 million Australian Research
Council Discovery grant in addition to on site and financial
support from Foster's, who have been recognised for their
innovative water reduction and recycling programs.
A patent is pending for the technology – believed to be a world
first – which is designed for small to medium operations and
could be used across a number of food, beverage and
manufacturing industries.
Professor Keller said the team are achieving good progress with
a 10 litre prototype, with plans to have a pilot-scale model up
and running to coincide with an international bio-energy
conference hosted by the University in September.
Congres: "Bio-Energy for our
Future"
11th World
Congress on Anaerobic Digestion covers several themes related to
Bio-energy for our future - Renewable Energy from Waste.
Date: 23-27 September 2007
Place: Brisbane, Australia
visit: ad11.org for more info
Microbes Convert Wastewater into Useable
Electricity
-- published on
http://www.sciam.com/ by
David Biello
Millions of tiny microbes infest
the water that carries the detritus of human life and society.
Some of them steadily break down the organic material in waste
streams and produce electrons in the process. By harvesting
these electrons, scientists have created microbial fuel cells.
New research shows how such biological power plants can be
stacked to create usable current.
Willy Verstraete and his
colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium tested the fuel cells
in an array of configurations: in a series, in parallel and
individually. Over the course of more than 200 days, the
researchers fed the microbes a diet of anaerobic and aerobic
sludge, as well as hospital and potato processing factory
wastewater. By the end of the experimental time frame, the
short-term power densities--a measure of power produced per unit
of mass--of the fuel cells had tripled. The team also found that
the parallel stack was most efficient at producing an electric
charge, consistently creating stronger current.
The scientists main discovery,
however, had to do with the co-evolution of the electrochemical
properties of the fuel cell and the actual microbial community.
At the start of the experiment, the tiny power plants relied on
a diverse community of proteobacteria, including several species
of Geobacter and Shewanella, and produced power
somewhat inefficiently. But by the end of the experiment--when
performance was at its peak--one species, Brevibacillus agri,
made up the majority of the electron-producing microbes.
This microbial evolution calls
for further research into the electron-producing properties of
various species and their interaction, the authors write. A
paper presenting the findings will be published in the May 15
issue of Environmental Science & Technology.
Real-time
MFC in action
The Logan Group
presents a real-time streaming video of
their working MFC:
http://www.engr.psu.edu/mfccam/
Microbial fuel cells on the cover of
Science
News
Bacteria-based fuel cells
provide power
by
Aimee Cunningham
Microbial fuel cells, which take
advantage of the fact that some microbes generate electricity
when they break down organic matter, could one day power remote
sensors, wastewater-treatment plants, and portable devices.
References:
Cheng, S., H.
Liu, and B.E. Logan. 2006. Power densities using different
cathode catalysts (Pt and CoTMPP) and polymer binders (Nafion
and PTFE) in single chamber microbial fuel cells.
Environmental Science & Technology 40(Jan. 1):364-369.
Abstract available at
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/
esthag/2006/40/i01/abs/es0512071.html. Reprint available at
http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/publications/2006-Cheng-etal-ES&T.pdf.
He, Z., S.D.
Minteer, and L.T. Angenent. 2005. Electricity generation from
artificial wastewater using an upflow microbial fuel cell.
Environmental Science & Technology 39(July 15):5262-5267.
Abstract available at
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/
esthag/2005/39/i14/abs/es0502876.html.
Liu, H., R.
Ramnarayanan, and B.E. Logan. 2004. Production of electricity
during wastewater treatment using a single chamber microbial
fuel cell. Environmental Science & Technology 38(April
1):2281-2285. Abstract available at
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/
esthag/2004/38/i07/abs/es034923g.html.
Logan, B.E.
2005. Simultaneous wastewater treatment and biological
electricity generation. Water Science & Technology
52(1-2):31-37. Abstract available at
http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/05201/wst052010031.htm.
Lovley, D.R.
In press. That's the power of bugs: Harvesting energy with
electricigens. Nature Reviews Microbiology.
Rabaey, K.,
et al. 2005. Tubular microbial fuel cells for efficient
electricity generation. Environmental Science & Technology
39(Oct. 15):8077-8082. Abstract available at
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/
esthag/2005/39/i20/abs/es050986i.html.
Rabaey, K.,
and W. Verstraete. 2005. Microbial fuel cells: Novel
biotechnology for energy generation. Trends in Biotechnology
23(June):291-298. Abstract available at
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2005.04.008.
Shantaram, A.
. . . and Z. Lewandowski. 2005. Wireless sensors powered by
microbial fuel cells. Environmental Science & Technology
39(July 1):5037-5042. Abstract available at
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/
esthag/2005/39/i13/abs/es0480668.html.
Further Readings:
Goho, A. 2004.
Special treatment: Fuel cell draws energy from waste. Science
News 165(March 13):165. Available at
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040313/fob5.asp.
Perkins, S.
2002. Voltage from the bottom of the sea: Ooze-dwelling microbes
can power electronics. Science News 162(July 13):21.
Available to subscribers at
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020713/fob5.asp.
Weiss, P.
2003. Sweet-toothed microbe tapped for power. Science News
164(Oct. 25):270. Available to subscribers at
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20031025/note15.asp.
Sources:
Largus T.
Angenent
Department of Chemical Engineering
Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63130
Zbigniew
Lewandowski
Department of Civil Engineering
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
Bruce E. Logan
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
Derek R.
Lovley
Department of Microbiology
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Korneel Rabaey
Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology
Ghent University
B-9000 Ghent
Belgium
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