From Foul to Fuel

This article reviews a new approach to fuel cells that turns wastewater into clean water and electricity. Operating and maintaining a wastewater treatment plant is a costly proposition. New fuel cell technology that generates power while it cleans wastewater may offer a way to make clean water more available for developing and industrialized nations. Increasing the power output is another major goal. While the first-generation device did not provide much power, a more recent iteration of the microbial fuel cell generates enough electricity to power a small fan. The first generation of the design proved that it is possible to generate fuel and clean water using wastewater as a medium. Logan and his team are working on ways to boost the power production of the microbial fuel cell, lower the cost to produce it, and transition it from the lab to a mass-production device.