Electric energy production from food waste: Microbial fuel cells versus anaerobic digestion

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

74 Scopus citations

Abstract

A food waste resourceful process was developed by integrating the ultra-fast hydrolysis and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for energy and resource recovery. Food waste was first ultra-fast hydrolyzed by fungal mash rich in hydrolytic enzymes in-situ produced from food waste. After which, the separated solids were readily converted to biofertilizer, while the liquid was fed to MFCs for direct electricity generation with a conversion efficiency of 0.245 kWh/kg food waste. It was estimated that about 192.5 million kWh of electricity could be produced from the food waste annually generated in Singapore, together with 74,390 tonnes of dry biofertilizer. Compared to anaerobic digestion, the proposed approach was more environmentally friendly and economically viable in terms of both electricity conversion and process cost. It is expected that this study may lead to the paradigm shift in food waste management towards ultra-fast concurrent recovery of resource and electricity with zero-solid discharge.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)281-287
Number of pages7
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume255
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2018
Externally publishedYes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Keywords

  • Biofertilize
  • Electricity
  • Food waste
  • Fungal mash
  • Microbial fuel cells

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