A STUDY ON RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS

Abstract

Renewable energy is the energy created by sources, which are naturally replenished such as sunlight, rain, wind and tides. Although there is much debate about how  to define and distinguish renewable energy from non-renewable, other energy types such as biomass, biofuel and anaerobic digestion are also widely considered as renewable energy. Microbial fuel cells(MFCs) that generate electricity by the break-down of organic matter(e.g. wastewater) have a great potential for the future energy and environmental challenges. MFCs are often compared with anaerobic digestion, which also uses microbial activity for breaking down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Unlike anaerobic digestion, which is relatively well understood and already widely used in municipal wastewater treatment plants, MFCs have received far less attention and funding, hence the technology is still at laboratory level in its development.