Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Bioelectrochemical and Integrated Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery

Shaina Macmac, Kristopher Ray Pamintuan

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) provide dual functionality for wastewater treatment and resource recovery, with integrated configurations offering enhanced potential within the water-energy nexus. This study evaluated the environmental performance and hotspots of various BES and integrated microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems using a multidimensional life-cycle assessment framework. Eight configurations were assessed using the ReCiPe 2016 characterization method and the Ecoinvent database in SimaPro 10.3.0.1. The membrane distillation (MD)-integrated MFC (MD + MFC) emerged as the most sustainable system, leveraging the displacement of the energy-intensive industrial desalination process and the recovery of value-added tap water to achieve a balanced, robust environmental profile. While the microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) offers unparalleled carbon-reduction potential through hydrogen recovery, its operational reliance on fossil-fuel-based electricity creates a critical trade-off with air quality, necessitating the integration of renewable energy to offset its grid dependence. Construction accounts for up to 90% of environmental burdens across most systems, including the standalone MFC and the microalgae-MFC (MA + MFC). The massive physical scale of constructed wetland (CW) + MFCs has entailed significant mineral investment and logistical demands, despite CWs being inherently natural systems. The low-impact microbial desalination cell (MDC), plant-MFC (PMFC), and vermiculture-based MFC (VBMFC) are ideal candidates for decentralized, self-sustaining applications due to their negligible footprints and low toxicological risks. Future studies should explore bio-derived alternatives and circular supply chains to mitigate global warming and resource scarcity. This study further provides stakeholders with evidence-based solutions to identify optimal BES and integrated MFC configurations to advance wastewater treatment and resource valorization.

Keywords

References

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DOI: 10.14416/j.asep.2026.09.008

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