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Review
. 2022 Dec 16;13(12):2239.
doi: 10.3390/mi13122239.

Environmental, Economic, and Social Aspects of Human Urine Valorization through Microbial Fuel Cells from the Circular Economy Perspective

Mariana Martínez-Castrejón  1 , Jazmin A López-Díaz  2 , Omar Solorza-Feria  3 , Oscar Talavera-Mendoza  2 , América L Rodríguez-Herrera  1 , Osbelia Alcaraz-Morales  4 , Giovanni Hernández-Flores  5
Affiliations
Review

Environmental, Economic, and Social Aspects of Human Urine Valorization through Microbial Fuel Cells from the Circular Economy Perspective

Mariana Martínez-Castrejón et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

Population growth increases the challenge of meeting basic human needs, such as water, a limited resource. Consumption habits and water pollution have compromised natural resources to unsustainable levels. Sustainable effluent treatment practices, such as decentralized systems focused on energy, nutrients, and water recovery, have attracted the attention of the scientific community. Human urine (HU) is a physiological liquid waste whose main component is water (~95%). HU has a significant amount of nutrients, such as N, P, K, and organic matter, which are usually lacking in fecal coliforms. Therefore, the possibility exists of recovering nutrients and energy from HU using sustainable and non-sustainable technologies. Treating HU in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) is a novel alternative to obtaining byproducts from this effluent more sustainably than in electrochemical systems. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an interesting example, contributing to HU revalorization from unwanted waste into a valuable resource of nutrients, energy, and water. Even when urine-operated MFCs have not generated attractive potential outputs or produced considerable amounts of bioelectricity, this review emphasizes HU advantages as nutrients or water sources. The aim of this review was to analyze the current development of BES for HU treatment based on the water circular economy, discussing challenges and perspectives researchers might encounter.

Keywords: bioelectrochemical systems; circular economy; electrochemical systems; human urine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Circular economy concept development over time.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Economic models: (a) linear economy and (b) circular economy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Residual effluents and their byproducts.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The circular economy of water.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Simple divergent toilet model.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Devices powered by microbial fuel cells are fed with human urine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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