Continued population growth and urbanization is increasing the demand for food, energy and water. At the same time, the use of fossil fuels must be reduced to address climate change. Different microbial electrochemical technologies offer the promise for recycling food wastes, biomass, and organic matter in wastewaters directly into electricity and biofuels. Certain microorganisms can transfer electrons outside the cell during respiration, and therefore they can be used to develop new methods of renewable energy or chemical production based on: microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that can be used to produce electrical power; microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for transforming biologically generated electrical current into transportable fuels such as hydrogen and methane gases; and other devices that can desalinate water, capture phosphorus, or produce acids and bases to fix carbon dioxide. In this presentation I highlight recent advances in materials and architectures that can transform these approaches into commercially viable technologies.

<b>Award Address</b> (ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology sponsored by the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry and the ACS Publications journal Environmental Science & Technology and Environmental Science & Technology Letters) Microbial electrochemical technologies at the nexus of food, energy, water and climate change

251st National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.