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The growing demand for agricultural products has increased exponentially, causing their waste to increase and become a problem for society. Searching for sustainable solutions for organic waste management is increasingly urgent. This research focuses on considering the waste of an Andean tuber, such as Olluco, as a fuel source for generating electricity and becoming a potential sustainable energy source for companies dedicated to this area. This research used Olluco waste as fuel in single-chamber microbial fuel cells using carbon and zinc electrodes. An electric current and electric potential of 6.4 ± 0.4 mA and 0.99 ± 0.09 V were generated, operating with an electrical conductivity of 142.3 ± 6.1 mS/cm and a pH of 7.1 ± 0.2. It was possible to obtain a 94% decrease in COD and an internal resistance of 24.9 ± 2.8 Ω. The power density found was 373.8 ± 28.8 mW/cm2 and the current density was 4.96 A/cm2. On day 14, the cells were connected in earnest, achieving a power of 2.92 V and generating enough current to light an LED light bulb, thus demonstrating the potential that Olluco waste has to be used as fuel in microbial fuel cells.

Currently, two significant problems involve the government, population, and environment: the accelerated increase in organic waste and the need to replace conventional energy with environmentally sustainable energy. The sustainable use of organic waste is being intensely investigated to generate energy plants that produce alternative sustainable electrical energy beneficial to the population at a low cost. The novelty of this research is given by the use of pepper waste as fuel in the generation of bioelectricity, giving added value to these types of waste, benefiting farmers and companies dedicated to the export and import of these fruits, because they will be able to generate their own electrical energy using their own waste at a lower cost. For this reason, this research uses pepper waste as fuel in single-chamber microbial fuel cells manufactured at a low cost as its primary objective. The maximum values of the electric current (5.118 ± 0.065 mA) and electric potential (1.018 ± 0.101 V) were shown on the fourteenth day, with an optimal operating pH of 7.141 ± 0.134 and electrical conductivity of 112.846 ± 4.888 mS/cm. Likewise, a reduction in the COD was observed from 1210.15 ± 0.89 mg/L to 190.36 ± 16.58 mg/L in the 35 days of monitoring and with a maximum ORP of 426.995 ± 8.615 mV, whose internal resistance was 33.541 ± 2.471 Ω. The peak power density was 154.142 ± 8.151 mW/cm2 at a current density of 4.834 A/cm2, and the Rossellomorea marisflavi strain was identified with 99.57% identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research proposes an alternative for companies and farmers through the production of electricity using microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using waste from export products. Nine MFCs were manufactured with zinc and copper electrodes; and as substrates, pineapple, potato and tomato pulp wastes were used in the anode chamber, and residual sludge in the cathode chamber. It was observed that the MFCs with pineapple substrate generated higher values of the electrical parameters, resulting in voltage and current values of 0.3484 ± 0.003 V and 27.88 ± 0.23 mA, respectively. It was also observed that the maximum power density was 0.967 ± 0.059 W/cm² at a current density of 0.04777 A/cm² for the same substrate. Acid pH values were observed in the three samples, while the conductivity reached its maximum value on day 23 (69.47 ± 0.91 mS/cm) which declined until the last day of monitoring; the turbidity values increased abruptly after day 22 until the last day where a value of 200.3 ± 2.52 UNT was observed for the pineapple substrate. The scanning electron microscopy for the pineapple substrate MFC electrodes shows the formation of a porous biofilm on the zinc and copper electrodes. These results show that a new form of electricity production has been achieved by generating high voltage and current values, using low-cost materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enormous environmental problems that arise from organic waste have increased due to the significant population increase worldwide. Microbial fuel cells provide a novel solution for the use of waste as fuel for electricity generation. In this investigation, onion waste was used, and managed to generate maximum peaks of 4.459 ± 0.0608 mA and 0.991 ± 0.02 V of current and voltage, respectively. The conductivity values increased rapidly to 179,987 ± 2859 mS/cm, while the optimal pH in which the most significant current was generated was 6968 ± 0.286, and the ° Brix values decreased rapidly due to the degradation of organic matter. The microbial fuel cells showed a low internal resistance (154,389 ± 5228 Ω), with a power density of 595.69 ± 15.05 mW/cm2 at a current density of 6.02 A/cm2; these values are higher than those reported by other authors in the literature. The diffractogram spectra of the onion debris from FTIR show a decrease in the most intense peaks, compared to the initial ones with the final ones. It was possible to identify the species Pseudomona eruginosa, Acinetobacter bereziniae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Yarrowia lipolytica adhered to the anode electrode at the end of the monitoring using the molecular technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]