Christine Roselle Angela G. Torres^1,, Raul C. Espiritu¹, Nerius James Z. Doydoy¹, Japith Askenez S. Deocares¹, Ian Jay P. Saldo¹, Mary Jade P. Dandoy¹

Agricultural waste can be a viable energy source to generate electricity through a microbial fuel cell. Subsequently, banana peels are a widely available agricultural waste that can be utilized to generate electricity through a microbial fuel cell. In this study, an innovative method was adopted to generate bioelectricity from the three varieties of banana peels by using a microbial fuel cell (MFC). This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the electric generation capacities and dissipation rates of the three varieties of banana peels using microbial fuel cells. The microbial fuel cell's electric generation capacities and dissipation rates were measured for seven days. One-way ANOVA was utilized to ascertain the significant difference in the electric generation capacities and dissipation rates of the three varieties of banana peels. Results showed that all banana peels produced electricity in slightly different amounts. On average, Lakatan has a voltage and current of 113.841 mV and 134.543 μA, Latundan has a voltage and current of 152.521 mV and 145.43 μA, Saba has a voltage and current of 247.8229 mV and 395.986 μA. Overall, ANOVA revealed that there is a significant difference in the electric generation capacities in terms of voltage and current. However, there is no significant difference in the dissipation rates of the three varieties of banana peels. The study concludes that the Saba peels could be a potential feedstock for MFCs due to their high electric generation capacity and low dissipation rate compared to other varieties of banana peels. However, further studies are needed to optimize the MFC parameters for electricity generation, such as varying set-up sizes of the chambers, salt bridges, and chemical contents of the substrate.

agricultural waste, banana peel waste, bioelectricity, dissipation rate, electric generation capacity, microbial fuel cell, microorganism, substrate