1. Researchers developed a microbial electrochemical system to recover energy from defective tomatoes (culls) that are typically discarded. 2. Around 0.61 billion kg of defective tomatoes are discarded annually in the US alone out of total tomato production of 1.53 billion kg per year. 3. The system uses microbes to degrade the tomato waste in the absence of oxygen, liberating electrons that are momentarily captured by the electrical circuit of the microbial-electrochemical device to generate electricity.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxnV6FAWNLk

2. Energy recovery from defective tomatoes (culls) using
Microbial Electrochemical Systems
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/16/technology/tomato-power/index.html
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3. Energy recovery from defective tomatoes (culls) using
Microbial Electrochemical Systems
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/16/technology/tomato-power/index.html

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~0.61 billion kg of defective
tomatoes (culls) every year
U.S. tomato production
reaching as high as 1.53
x 109 kg/year

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Reference Electrode
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Counter Electrode
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• Tomato waste is rich in organic matter.
• There is hidden chemical energy in the tomato wastes
• Chemical energy is due to some kind of chemical
bonding
• Microbes love to degrade tomato waste as the food
source, break these chemical bonds, to obtain energy.
• Basically, electrons move from one substance to
another
• If the degradation happens in presence of oxygen it is
aerobic metabolism, we don’t see these electrons
• We have developed an electrochemical device that
operates under absence of oxygen. Its electrical circuit
can momentarily capture the electrons liberated
during the tomato waste degradation