Page 53 - JCAU-5-1

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Microbial technologies: Toward a regenerative architecture

integrated view of their potential must be taken. An of our current resource-squandering lifestyles but to
appropriate starting point is to consider the idea of a toilet create enough energetic and waste-processing potential to
and consider how it may be transformed from a chute for perform necessary work in a way that enables us to wean
debris that is flushed with water, into a parallel processor ourselves off fossil fuels while bioremediating and creatively
that converts the organic matter from our bodies into reusing our waste streams as a resource. Increasing the
bioelectricity, cleaned water and a range of microbial “goods” number of MFCs therefore takes a significant step towards
that perform household tasks while bioremediating our resource circularity for human settlements raising the
surroundings. To perform the necessary work, the number possibility of 12 V regenerative domestic lifestyles that
of MFCs would have to increase dramatically where, for bioremediate the surroundings, while meeting — and
example, a system based on 1000 MFC units would comprise perhaps one day surpassing — the basic expectations of a
46 modules of 5L geometrical volume each, which is 230L modern existence. The following renderings are based on
total volume. With a 50 L header tank and peripherals, holistic structures that house MFC stacks — each with 1000
this volume becomes 300L. With smaller MFC modules, units. The different types of construction create unique
2 tiers of 22 MFCs/module can be produced, reducing the affordances that encourage new kinds of attitudes toward
total number of modules to 23, which would be 115L total and expectations of waste streams. This means that should
volume (~190L with tanks and peripherals). Technological we adopt these types of built constructions within our
advances are enabling the power density of MFC modules
to reach 1 mW/mL feedstock (Gajda et al., 2018), so, scaled
to 1000-MFC units at 1–2 mW/MFC, 1–2 W, 24–48 Wh
can be reasonably expected for 1 day, with 168–336 Wh/
week, 720–1400 Wh for 1 month and 8.7–17.5 kWh for
1 year. A 1-Watt light bulb will be rated as 24 Wh, and a
4-bedroom house will require roughly 100 Wh just for
lighting up the bedrooms. Rapid progress in semiconductor
electronics support the possibility of low-power devices,
resulting in widespread lifestyle trends in global society that
enable energy saving, energy generation and distribution
from renewable sources such as solar, wind, and microbial
energy. This power electronics technology ranges from
very high Giga-watt power like energy transmission,
propulsion systems for ships, high-speed trains — to very
low milliwatt power systems that run domestic appliances, Figure 9. Microbial fuel cells toilet structure made from recycled wood,
inspired by ship hulls at Seaplane Harbour. Source: Concept for the
mobile phones, or LED lighting (Pharkphoumy et al. 2023). Estonian Maritime Museum, Tallinn, rendering by Anna Vershinina;
At present, USB-2 rating is 2.5 W (5 V, 0.5 A), which is courtesy of Anna Vershinina, 2023.
completely within the capabilities of MFCs to produce, but
the USB-C rating is changing from 60 W (min) (20 V, 3
A) to 100 W (min) (20 V, 5 A) and even to 240 W (50 V,
5 A, in fact 250 W), which is, of course, in line with more
power-hungry devices and lifestyles. The cost of MFC units
will also continue to be reduced as the technology is further
improved and refined. The MFC chassis can be made from
a whole range of materials (including recycled materials
and discards), so the baseline cost is set by the cost of the
membrane and selection of electrodes. New configurations
of chassis, electrode, and membrane can increase the MFC
density while generating units that are easier to produce
and install in the home, which together affect the overall
cost and lifetime of the product (Santoro et al., 2019). It is
reasonable to assume that the costs of producing MFC units
today will be halved within a year as material and design Figure 10. Microbial fuel cells toilet structure made from recycled
developments enable new methods and configurations for wood, incorporated into a precision gardening unit with robot-farmed
hydroponically grown plants. Source: Concept for Nova Gorica GO! 2025
scaling up production and installation. The goal with MFC festival, Slovenia/Italy, rendering by Anna Vershinina; courtesy of Anna
development, however, is not to match the expectations Vershinina, 2023.

Volume 5 Issue 1 (2023) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.157