Patent ID: 7858243

Claim:
A method of multi-purpose in-situ microbial fuel cell functions for waste remediation and energy generation comprising the steps of: creating an in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber within an in-situ environmental media having at least one contaminant selected from a group consisting of a petroleum contaminant and a refined petroleum contaminant; providing at least one microbial population in said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber; metabolizing said at least one contaminant in said in-situ environmental media with said at least one microbial population to generate electrons and protons in said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber; remediatingly biodegrading at least some of said at least one contaminant; extracting electrons from said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber with at least one anode in said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber; transferring said electrons from said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber to an in-situ open cathode chamber through an external circuit, wherein said in-situ open cathode chamber is located at or near a surface of said in-situ environmental media; generating electrical power from said transfer of said electrons from said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber to said in-situ open cathode chamber; transferring protons from said in-situ closed anaerobic anode chamber to said in-situ open cathode chamber with a proton exchange connector between said at least one anode to at least one cathode of said in-situ open cathode chamber; and reacting oxygen with said protons in said in-situ open cathode chamber to create by-products.