Effect of Lake Depth on Bioelectrical Potential of Sediments in Microbial Fuel Cells

The need for clean, renewable energy is growing exponentially as the world is slowly moving towards the end of the present fossil fuels. Less developed countries are entering periods where industrial fuels, such as oil and coal, are becoming increasingly necessary. Evidence suggests that clean energy lies in four main sources: wind, solar, nuclear and biomass. This project explores potential behind biomass and answers the question: “What is the potential for the biological production of electricity from sediment in Lake Murray?” Measuring the output of microbial fuel cells developed with sediments from different depths of Lake Murray, bacterial diversity, affected by depth, caused different levels of electrical production. Using a multimeter, the voltage and current between a biological oxidation anode and a reduction cathode was measured. Experimentation showed that depth was a statistically significant factor that affected electrical output of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC). An MFC made with common materials produced low voltages, between 5mV-90mV, and a nonexistent current. The lack of current was due to the high internal resistance from microbial fuel cells established with a salt bridge. Although the power output was very low, making large scale reliance on microbial fuel cells for energy unfeasible in this case, similar research also suggests that microbial fuel cells with higher quality materials have potential to achieve larger notoriety [Pant, Singh, Van Bogaert, Olsen, Nigam, et al. 2012]