PlantPower: Living plants in microbial fuel cells for clean, renewable, sustainable, efficient, in-situ bioenergy production
Contact Person at ICG-3:  Dr. A. Kuhn
Co-operation Partner: Dr. H.V.M. Hamelers (Koordinator), Wageningen University - Sub-department of Environmental Technology (WU); The Netherlands; all Co-operation Partners
Funding: EU-Joint Research Project within the program "ENERGY.2008.10.1.1: Future Emerging Technologies (FET)"

More Details: Living plants in microbial fuel cells might be used as future large-scale Europe wide green energy providers. That this might become true was indicated by a first small scale proof of principle experiments describing the so called Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (Plant-MFC) at the Wageningen University. In the Plant-MFC concept, living plants and living microbes form an electrochemical system that is capable of sustainable production of green electricity or biohydrogen from solar energy. The technology might be implemented in several ways, ranging from local small scale electricity providers to large scale energy wetlands & islands, high-tech energy & food supplying greenhouses and novel biorefineries. more information

Main topics of the ICG-3 in the project are:
(i) Exploration of plant functioning and vigour under Plant-MFCs conditions and
(ii) Exploration and maximization of rhizodeposition by plants in Plant-MFCs





Prospective locations & implementations of Plant-MFC technology and scheme of Power Plant
last change 18.05.2009 | | Print