Chapter 14 - Concurrent reduction of CO2 and generation of biofuels by electrified microbial systems—concepts and perspectives

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the atmosphere is escalating at an alarming rate as we continue to depend on fossil fuels as energy sources. The serious impact of CO2 on environment is well-known. On the other side, fossil fuels are recognized as unreliable energy resources due to their fleet depletion. Therefore exploration of efficient carbon fixation/recycling (carbon neutral) technologies that can mitigate CO2 levels and concomitantly produce fuels, is a probable solution. One of such advanced technologies is Microbial Electrosynthesis (MES), in which microbial communities are electrified to reduce CO2 into multicarbon organic compounds including biofuels. Electrotrophic bacteria are the biocatalysts that catalyze the conversion of CO2 into fuels with the uptake of electrical energy. MES is a unique technique where, enormous quantity of renewable energy can be stored efficiently in the chemical bonds. Albeit found to be a sound technology to generate carbon neutral fuels, MES is still in its infancy and struggling to be operative in large scale. Therefore, assiduous research investigations have yet to be done to transfer MES from lab to site of implementation. Hence, with an intention to provide the reliable documentation of MES in a much comprehensible manner, this section put forwards the basic concepts and perspectives of MES systems. It also elucidates the hurdles being faced by MES and need for the rigorous development of MES to contain CO2 emissions and to satiate the fuel demands of future generations.