See also: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994761 New Scientist Plugging into the power of sewage 19:00 10 March 04 http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/32758/
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University hope to simplify the process of generating power from wastewater, using a fuel cell based on microbes. In Penn State's microbial fuel cell, the wastewater is passed between the terminals of the fuel cell. As naturally occurring bacteria in the water oxidize the waste, they also pass electrons to the anode of the fuel cell, producing an electrical current. So far, the researchers have generated between 10 and 50 milliwatts of power per square meter of electrode while removing about 78 percent of the organic matter in the wastewater. See the http://live.psu.edu/story/5717 Penn State press release. http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/32519/ Continuous electricity from bacteria oxidizing biomass Tue, 18 Mar 2003 BACTERIA THAT CAN PRODUCE ELECTRICITY http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/22632/ Food Scraps to Power Bacteria-Driven Battery 10/09/02 http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/BIOFUEL/17406/ >http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/26/1082831478217.html >Power from the bottom line > April 26, 2004 - 12:38PM > > > > > > > >Human waste could be turned into a new renewable energy source, >scientists believe. > >Scientists have developed a device that generates electricity from >human waste. > >The Microbial Fuel Cell devised by American researchers at >Pennsylvania State University uses bacteria to break down waste, >liberating electrons in the process. > >Normally the electrons would power respiratory reactions in the >bacterial cells and be combined with oxygen molecules. > >But the MFC wrestles the electrons away from the bacteria and uses >them to power a circuit. > >"There are extraordinary benefits if this technology can be made to >work," Bruce Rittmann, an environmental engineer at Northwestern >University in Illinois, told New Scientist magazine. > >The device consists of a sealed can, 15 cm long, containing a >special arrangement of electrodes. > >Organic waste is pumped in and broken down by clusters of bacteria. >By depriving the bacteria of oxygen, electrons are freed to set up a >voltage between the electrodes. > >Previous attempts to produce electricity in this way have only run >on glucose solutions. > > > > >The current design produces only a 10th of what the researchers >calculate the potential power output of the system could be, said >New Scientist. > >Even so, if scaled up, the device would produce 51 kilowatts of >power from the waste produced by 100,000 people. > >Microbiologist Derek Lovley, from the University of Massachusetts at >Amherst, USA, believes generating power from waste on a large scale >is a long way off. > >"One way to think of this technology is that it is currently at the >state of development that solar power was 20 to 30 years ago," he >said. > >"The principle has been shown, but there is a lot of work to do >before this is widely used." > >DPA > >Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
