MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS— Challenges and Applications Harnessing

said that “energy is the single greatest chal-lenge facing humanity. ” Energy needs in the U.S. and the world continue to increase, driv-ing demand at an unsustainable pace. Possible options are carbon-based alternatives to oil, such as methane hydrates and the conversion of coal into methane gas, and the use of less readily available oil reservoirs and oil shale. But do we really want to use these fuels? Climate change is being driven by the atmospheric release of greenhouse gases like CO2 (1), and an impending global energy crisis is coming at a time when we can least af-ford to release additional stored carbon. Nuclear power offers a carbon-free approach to energy generation, but no good solutions for nuclear waste exist. Perhaps Smal-ley should have said that energy is the single greatest environmental challenge facing humanity