Bioelectricity Production from an Aquatic Algae

Bioelectricity is an alternative for the conventional energy production methods like hydroelectric, wind energy, thermal electric and atomic energy resources. Bioelectricity can be produced by making use of microorganism either bacteria, fungi, algae etc. the growth and adaptability of these array of microorganisms in various environmental conditions can be harnessed for choosing these microbes for energy conversion strategies. Work over these microbes required optimal conditions for their survival and can be best utilized for the bioenergy production. Algae are aquatic habitats both marine and fresh water origin able to fix the carbon by harvesting solar energy the photo system present in them. Aquatic algae harvest the photons and with the help of photo system unique for their genome, converts the water into highly energetic molecules for their own metabolism. Algae are of two types either micro or macro each has its own mechanism of photo lytic mechanism. In the case of microalgae, they can be further classified into unicellular, filamentous, or with an organized thallus forms as equivalent to green plants. Bioenergy is renewable energy that derived from biomass. Biomass is a good choice for electricity production and algae are the most easily available resource of biomass. Solar energy conversion by plants and algae into biomass, may encompass considerable shares in future sustainable renewable energy production as bioelectricity. Heat, hydrogen, methane and other biofuels resources that are viable both economically and technically need to have the characteristics of low cost; low requirements war land use and low air pollution. In order to meet with the strict requirements for bioenergy production, algae have recently been considered in various scientific studies. Bio-fuel cells (BFCs) are alternative energy devices based on bio-electrocatalysis of natural substrates by enzymes or microorganisms. BFCs are the promising technology that converts the energy stored in chemical bonds in organic compounds to electrical energy achieved through the catalytic reactions by the electrochemically active living organisms. BFCs have been demonstrated by several groups both with and without the use of mediators to facilitate electron transfer to the anode. The mediator-less fuel cell has an advantage over those with mediators in terms of cost and the absence of undesirable toxic mediators.