Aspects of Bioeconomy and Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies for Sustainable Development
Debajyoti Bose, Arindam Dey, Tulika Banerjee
Abstract
Biomass utilization is expected to play a crucial role in sustainable development by addressing issues related to food security, climate change, and resource utilization. In this context, bioeconomy represents a pivotal concept for necessary innovations in the primary economic sectors. This article reviews the key drivers of bioeconomy—from biogas energy to first generation biofuels—that find stable performance in automobiles. Included in the discussion is the utilization of wastewater streams that produce bioelectricity by decomposing the organic substrates using microbial metabolisms. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) can help achieve such conversions and further the electrochemical kinetics that govern biochemical reactions in MFCs. The scope of sustainable development for bioeconomy value chains paves the way for bio-based chemical production, applications in food, technology, and manufacturing. The development of these pathways is critical for exploiting new resources from renewable biomass and allows speculation about the transition to a sustainable society by reducing the use of fossil resources.