Food Waste to Hydrogen Bioreactor

Food waste is converted to hydrogen fuel after being placed in a bioreactor. With a modular system adaptable to demand, each unit is shipping-container-sized, solar-powered, and contains a food liquefier, stacks with tens of thousands of biofilm reactors, and a hydrogen compressor.

In this bioreactor, special electron-producing bacteria grow as a biofilm with hundreds of other microbes that synergistically work to produce electrons from liquified food waste. In the microbial electrolysis cell, hydrogen is generated when these microbes growing on the E anode actively extract the electrons, driving hydrogen production at the cathode. The hydrogen is then compressed at the end as a carbon-neutral fuel and is ready for use or commercialization.

As food waste and other waste disposal are some of the leading sources of methane emissions in the environment, this solution could address the problem while creating renewable hydrogen fuel.