Segments - Microbial Fuel Cell Market by Type (Mediator and Non-Mediator), Application (Power Generation, Biosensor, and Wastewater Treatment), End-user (Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Government, Healthcare, and Others), and Region (Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa) - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast 2023 – 2031
The Global Microbial Fuel Cell Market size was valued at USD 277.99 Million in 2022 and is expected to surpass USD 427.57 Million by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 4.9% during the forecast period, 2023–2031. The market growth is attributed to the increased energy demand and rising environmental awareness.
Microbial fuel cell (MFCs) is an innovative bioelectrochemical technology for generating energy with the use of bacteria derived from biochemical reactions. The biochemical reaction is catalyzed by bacteria. Microbial organisms are ideal for converting waste to energy as they use organic material waste as food or substrate. While the substrate is metabolized by microbes, chemical energy is transformed into electrical energy.
Microbial fuel cell technology uses agricultural byproducts, rumen fluids, and other waste products as a source of the substrate. Microbes can digest or metabolize any type of material, which makes them an ideal solution for converting waste material into energy with the help of biochemical reactions catalyzed by bacteria. As the waste materials are abundantly and conveniently available the implementation of MFC technology is inexpensive.
The microbial fuel cell process is ideal for wastewater treatment plants, supplying power to marine electronic devices in remote areas, and as biosensors. The microbial fuel system can be used for reducing and converting waste into energy or as a water purifier while generating energy by an eco-friendly process.
The market report finds that the COVID-19 pandemic affected global microbial fuel cell market growth. The pandemic outbreak resulted in a global economic slowdown. The manufacturing, supply chain, and other essential activities were either halted or slowed down during the initial days of the pandemic due to lockdown restrictions implemented by various governments across the globe.
The manufacturing and logistics slowdown affected the various end-user industries operations in regions such as North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. However, the rising demand for renewable energy and rising awareness about the environment is expected to support the microbial fuel cell market analysis in gradual recovery from the pandemic-led decline in demand.
The research report presents a complete market overview by providing detailed information about the current market trends, existing drivers, growth opportunities and potentials, and emerging challenges. The global microbial fuel cell market report has up-to-date insights about market scenarios that can shape the overall market performance and output during the forecast period, 2022 to 2030.
The demand for energy is consistently increasing across the world, which is expected to be one of the major factors driving global market growth. The microbial cell is an efficient power generation low-cost alternative due to the involvement of microbial organisms in generating biochemical reactions to produce energy.
The rising awareness about the environment is projected to be another major factor driving global market growth in the coming years. The MFC technology is beneficial to major industries such as food & beverages, agriculture, wastewater treatment plants, and others for generating clean energy while fixing waste materials. The microbial fuel cell system is an eco-friendly way to generate electricity, owing to which its demand is expected to expand in the coming years.
Microbial fuel cells lack consistency in energy generation, which results in insufficient electricity output. The lack of consistency in energy production is anticipated to restrain the microbial fuel cells (mfc) market growth.
Though MFC is a renewable and eco-friendly solution for energy production, however, it cannot be used on large scale due to the inability to provide a consistent volume of energy production. As the result, MFCs adoption is expected to be slow, which is likely to restrain market growth during the projection period.
Wastewater treatment is becoming a major focus all over the world, which is expected to create lucrative growth opportunities for the microbial fuel cell market. The wastewater in urban areas and the agriculture sector is vastly increasing owing to the growing use of water and urbanization. MFC technology is an efficient option for dealing with wastewater, as it can simultaneously treat water and generate electricity.
MFC devices convert chemical energy from substrate found in wastewater to electrical energy with the means of metabolism activity occurring in microorganisms. The energy generated from wastewater can contribute to the increased electricity demand in agriculture, small facilities, and houses, among others.
The global microbial fuel cell market research report includes an assessment of the market trends, market segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.
Attributes |
Details |
Report Title |
Microbial Fuel Cell Market - Global Industry Analysis, Growth, Share, Size, Trends, and Forecast |
Base Year |
2022 |
Historic Data |
2016–2021 |
Forecast Period |
2023–2031 |
Segmentation |
Type (Mediator and Non-Mediator), Application (Power Generation, Biosensor, and Wastewater Treatment), and End-user (Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Government, Healthcare, and Others) |
Regional Scope |
Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa |
Report Coverage |
Company Share, Market Analysis and Size, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Market Trends, and Revenue Forecast |
Key Players Covered in the Report |
Plug Power Inc.; FuelCell Energy, Inc.; AVL; Cambrian Innovation Inc.; Praxair Technology, Inc.; MICRORGANIC TECHNOLOGIES; Ballard Power Systems; Intelligent Energy Limited; Cummins Inc.; Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd.; TW Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies; Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology BV; NUVERA FUEL CELLS, LLC,; JSP Enviro; AFC Energy; Pearl Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd.; Integer Holdings Corporation; Bloom Energy; Fluence Corporation Limited; Triqua International; Prongineer; and Sainergy. |
Based on type, the global microbial fuel cell market is bifurcated into mediator and non-mediator. The mediator segment is expected to hold the major share of the market during the projected period owing to its reliability in transferring electrons from microbial cells to electrodes.
Most of the microbial cells are inactive electrochemically, which makes mediators important for the electron exchange process. The use of mediator microbial fuel cells technology is projected to grow owing to being promising technology for renewable energy production.
Non-mediator (or mediator-free) segment is anticipated to hold a considerable share of the market in the coming years. Mediator-less microbial fuel cells are less expensive and non-toxic compared to mediator MFC, which makes them environment-friendly. The aforementioned factors are likely to support the mediator-free microbial fuel cell segment growth in the coming years.
On the basis of application, the global market is segregated into power generation, biosensor, and wastewater treatment. The power generation segment is projected to witness significant expansion during the forecast period, owing to the steady demand for eco-friendly ways to generate power.
As environmental awareness is on the rise across the global population and industries, there is high demand for environmentally friendly energy generation solutions, which reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and also help in producing renewable energy.
Wastewater treatment segment is anticipated to grow rapidly in the global microbial fuel cell market, owing to a growing demand for treating wastewater to make it reusable for agriculture, industrial, or household usage. The microbial fuel cells technology not only supports purifying the wastewater but also generates energy from water substrates concurrently.
Based on end-user, the global microbial fuel cell market is categorized into agriculture, food & beverages, government, healthcare, and others. The food & beverages segment is expected to provide a high revenue generation opportunity for the global market during the projected period.
The food and beverage sector is one of the major generators of waste material across the world. The demand for microbial fuel cell technology for the effective handling of waste produced in the food and beverages industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
Agriculture segment is projected to witness considerable growth in the global market during the forecast period, owing to the rising use of various eco-friendly technologies in fixing waste material or by-products generated during agricultural operations. The wastewater and byproducts can be used for generating energy with the help of microbial fuel cell devices. This energy then can contribute to the increased energy demands in agricultural operations.
In terms of region, the global microbial fuel cell market is classified as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The market size of Asia Pacific is projected to dominate the market during the forecast period.
The market growth in the region is attributed to the rising demand for different energy production solutions. Increased energy demand in the emerging economies of the region, such as India and China, due to increasing disposable income, large population, and industrialization is likely to fuel the market growth.
North America is also anticipated to hold the key share of the market, owing to the rising use of eco-friendly technology solutions to generate energy and handle waste materials in several industries. Government policies and regulations are also resulting in various manufacturing companies of the region adopting various measures to produce renewable energy or purify wastewater for reuse.
The global microbial fuel cell market has been segmented on the basis of
The competitive landscape of the global microbial fuel cell market report provides key insights into the growth strategies and development initiatives implemented by the key players in the market.
Key players competing in the global microbial fuel cell market are Plug Power Inc.; FuelCell Energy, Inc.; AVL; Cambrian Innovation Inc.; Praxair Technology, Inc.; MICRORGANIC TECHNOLOGIES; Ballard Power Systems; Intelligent Energy Limited; Cummins Inc.; Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd.; TW Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies; Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology BV; NUVERA FUEL CELLS, LLC,; JSP Enviro; AFC Energy; Pearl Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd.; Integer Holdings Corporation; Bloom Energy; Fluence Corporation Limited; Triqua International; Prongineer; and Sainergy.
Some of these major companies adopted various business development strategies including mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, collaboration, product launches, and production capacity expansion to expand their consumer base and enhance their market share.
On 16 December 2022, Intelligent Energy Limited and Applus+ IDIADA, announced a collaboration agreement for the development of hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) projects for automotive applications. Hydrogen fuel cell is rapidly emerging as a major potential technology for the decarbonization of the future automotive industry.
On 28 June 2021, MICROrganic announced that the company VIVA MFC module is performing well and flawlessly. The company is going to begin stress testing of the module to check its true potential. The company is aiming to push the envelope of increased performance and treatment rates in processing wastewater.
The global microbial fuel cell market size was USD 277.99 Mn in 2022 and is likely to reach USD 427.57 Mn by 2031, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 4.95% during 2023–2031.
The food & beverages segment constituted a major share of the market in 2021 and is expected to provide a high revenue generation opportunity for the global market during the projected period.
The market growth is attributed to the increased energy demand and rising awareness about the environment.
For regional analysis, Asia Pacific dominates the global market during the forecast period.
Some of the key global microbial fuel cell market players are Plug Power Inc.; FuelCell Energy, Inc.; AVL; Cambrian Innovation Inc.; Praxair Technology, Inc.; MICRORGANIC TECHNOLOGIES; Ballard Power Systems; Intelligent Energy Limited; Cummins Inc.; Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd.; TW Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies; Nedstack Fuel Cell Technology BV; and NUVERA FUEL CELLS, LLC,