Lecture given by International Francqui Professor Bruce Logan,
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and the Engineering Energy & Environmental Institute, Penn State University, USA
The ability of certain microorganisms to transfer electrons outside the cell has created opportunities for new methods of renewable energy generation based on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that can be used to produce electrical power, and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) for transforming biologically generated electrical current into transportable fuels such as hydrogen and methane gases. These devices can also be modified to desalinate water without the need for electrical grid energy.
In this presentation I will summarize key findings in the general area of electromicrobiology that are related to exoelectrogenic microorganisms and communities that produce electrical current, and electrotrophic and methanogenic communities that are used to produce hydrogen and methane gases. I will also summarize three methods of capturing energy from salinity gradients either using freshwater/wastewater and seawater, or waste heat, and show how these energy production methods can be integrated into these different microbial electrochemical technologies (METs).
Recent advances will be highlighted on materials and architectures that are being developed to make these different types of METs more cost efficient, bringing them closer to being commercially practical technologies.
The conference will be held on the 4th December 2013 at 17:00 in the SUD 09 lecture hall, place Croix-du-Sud, Louvain-la-Neuve.
Drinks and appetizers will be served after the presentation and questions-and-answers session.
Registration is free but mandatory, please sign up at the bottom of this page.
Short Biography
Dr. Bruce Logan is an Evan Pugh Professor, the Stan & Flora Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering, and Director of the Engineering Energy & Environmental Institute at Penn State University, and currently the International Francqui Chair at Ghent University. His main research efforts are in bioenergy production and the development of an energy sustainable water infrastructure. Dr. Logan is the author or co-author of over 350 refereed publications (h-index of 87) and several books, and a former Associate Editor of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, and founding Deputy Editor of ES&T Letters. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the International Water Association and the Water Environment Federation. Dr. Logan is an Investigator with KAUST in Saudi Arabia; and a visiting professor at Newcastle University (England), and Tsinghua University (China) among others. He received his Ph.D. in 1986 from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State in 1997, he was on the faculty at the University of Arizona.