Microbial electrochemical approaches of carbon dioxide utilization for biogas upgrading

Microbial electrochemical approach is an emerging technology for biogas upgrading through carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction and biomethane (or value-added products) production. There are limited literature critically reviewing the latest scientific development on the Bioelectrochemical (BES) based biogas upgrading technology, including CO₂ reduction efficiency, methane (CH₄) yields, reactor operating conditions, and electrode material tested in BES reactor. This review analyzes the reported performance and identifies the crucial parameters to be considered for future optimization, which is currently missing. In this review, the performances of BES approach of biogas upgrading under various operating settings in particular fed-batch, continuous mode in connection to the microbial dynamics and cathode materials have been thoroughly scrutinized and discussed. Additionally, other versatile application options associated with BES based biogas upgrading, such as resource recovery, are presented. The three-dimensional electrode materials have shown superior performance in supplying the electrons for the reduction of CO₂ to CH₄. Most of the studies on the biogas upgrading process conclude hydrogen (H₂) mediated electron transfer mechanism in BES biogas upgrading.