Direct electricity generation from sweet sorghum stalks and anaerobic sludge

Dried sweet sorghum stalks were valorized as a raw material for electricity generation in a two chamber microbial fuel cell using anaerobic sludge from a biogas plant as inoculum. The maximum voltage obtained on the sorghum stalks at an operating temperature of 35 °C was 546 mV with a maximum power- and current density of 131 mW/m2 and 543 mA/m2, respectively. The coulombic efficiency was 2.2%. Polarization data indicated that Ohmic resistances were dominant with an internal resistance of 182 Ω. The total electrical energy per gram of dried sorghum stalks was 165 J/g. Enzymatic treatment of the sorghum stalks did not improve the total electrical energy obtained. A metabolic study demonstrated that the sugars were quickly fermented to formate, acetate, propionate, lactate and butyrate with acetate and butyrate being the dominant acids during electricity generation.