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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BIOO Panel (Green Electricity from plantsâ€™ photosynthesis)

Teaser

Summary

Sadly, effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are nowadays a visible reality: significant temperature increase, changes in precipitation patterns, glaciers shrunk, accelerated sea level rise and more intense heat waves are already happening. In the last 150 years, atmospheric CO2 concentration have raised from 280 to 405 parts per million (ppm), and according to scientists, the cause is crystal clear: all recent data confirms that the high consumption of fossil fuels that our modern civilization depends upon accounts for the majority of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.

Fortunately, renewable energy technologies have been introduced into the market during the last century in an attempt to battle such energy-related CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and nowadays, renewable energy power plants currently account for more than 23% of total global electricity generation. Arkyne Technologies wants to join and participate in this green movement. To do so, Bioo Panel, a product based on artificial Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell (P-MFC) is presented. This technology is based in two step energy transformation: 1) from solar energy to chemical energy, this is done by plants photosynthesis 2) chemical energy to electrical energy, this is carried out by MFCs. The use of Bioo Panel for electrical energy generation has 3 main benefits. First one, it is 100% green energy, since the fuel comes from CO2 fixed by the plants. Second, the surface where the device is placed it is profitable, for example it can be a green roof or a garden. Last but not least, this product creates social and environmental awareness by promoting the use of plants.

The Bioo Panel project aims to develop a product that can be easily installed in large variety of places, with a comfortable user experience and an affordable price. The satisfactory market penetration will also bring the social and environmental awareness as a benefit and implicit consequence.

Work performed

By the end of the 1st period of Bioo Panel project a big number of tasks have been carried out, most of them dedicated to Bioo Panel product development and dissemination activities. However, due to the immaturity of the technology, large variety of experiments for research purposes have also been done.

Arkyne has selected a specific electrogenic bacteria consortium based on several experiments performed using pure cultures. Simultaneously, a new inoculation technique has been developed for these bacteria. This promising consortium was later widely tested in the laboratory using MFC testing prototypes, achieving a maximum of 0,47 w/m3 in controlled mixed cultures. So far, Arkyne is working on the development of scale-up procedures in order to industrialize the product.

Also, a new P-MFC configuration design has been developed and tested. From it, new lay out designs have been made to meet new Bioo Panelâ€™s necessities. The plant placement, the filtering system and drainage system have been changed and improved in relation to the previous designs. The new Bioo Panel configuration is designed in order to meet the plant and MFCâ€™s requirements. Arkyne has focused on using affordable materials and has taken into account the future industrialization process. After few more modifications the final version is expected to be ready.

During this first period, the first version of Bioo Panel has been tested in real environmental conditions. To do so, a Bioo Panel was installed in Sant Cugat. Using the information collected during this experiment a deep knowledge of the system was obtained and used for the current design. Finally, Arkyne has used the Bioo Pass certification to start preparations Bioo Panelâ€™s.

Final results

The objective of a Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (PMFC) is to transform solar energy into electrical energy through oxidation of rhizodeposits of a plant by electrochemically active bacteria. In order to avoid competition with agricultural food production, different species of plants have been used in previous studies. The most common plants studied are wet lands and aquatic plants. Nevertheless, until now no studies have been done in grasses. Lawns are a plant type that are easy to grow, and it would be possible for the user to step and walk on this grass. Therefore, this project included the study of grasses as part of the PMFC system.

In addition, in previous studies, the power output obtained decrease over time due to an increase of membrane resistance. This project included a PMFC configuration were no membrane is needed, in order to avoid potential losses. Moreover, different from other studies, the configuration of our PMFC consists in two separate modules: one where the plant is placed, and a second one that consists in the MFC. Using this design, it is possible to have a major control of the system.

Finally, our system differentiates from the studies found in the literature since the possibility of adding an external inoculum and substrate to the system is studied. Furthermore, an enrichment of the system through an electrical stimulation of the bacterial population in the MFC is developed, in order to increase the power production.

Concerning the socio-economic expected potential impact, there are four points Arkyne will affect: i) increase green energy generation, as Bioo Panel uses renewable fuel, while reducing the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere; ii) increase of public social and environmental awareness related to the green energy consumption and energy systems made of plants; iii) increase the relationship between plants and peopleâ€™s life; iv) Finally, by taking this product to the market, Arkyne expects to have an healthy commercial growth.