Bug in the system

Looking for alternatives to world reliance on fossil fuels for energy, an interdisciplinary team of

researchers is studying ways to generate electricity by feeding a species of photosynthetic bacteria a steady diet of sunshine and wastewater.

The concept of such so-called microbial fuel cells emerged nearly three decades ago when an English researcher fed carbohydrates to a bacteria culture, connected electrodes and produced tiny amounts of electricity.

Although a few research groups are studying them, microbial fuel cells largely live in the realm of laboratory entertainment and high-school science experiments, said Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Daniel Noguera. ‘Now, the idea is taking shape that this could become a real alternative source for energy,’ he said.

Noguera, Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Marc Anderson and Assistant Professor Trina McMahon, Bacteriology Professor Timothy Donohue, Senior Scientist Isabel Tejedor-Anderson, and graduate students Yun Kyung Cho and Rodolfo Perez, hope to develop a large-scale microbial fuel cell system for use in wastewater treatment plants. ‘It’s inexpensive,” said Noguera, of the nutrient-rich wastewater food source. ‘We treat the wastewater anyway, so you are using a lot of energy to do that.’