Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) offer a sustainable solution for alternative energy production
by employing microorganisms as catalysts for direct conversion of chemical energy of feedstock into
electricity. Electricity from urine (urine-tricity) using MFCs is a promising cost-effective technology
capable of serving multipurpose benefits - generation of electricity, waste alleviation, resource recovery
and disinfection. As an abundant waste product from human and animal origin with high nutritional
values, urine is considered to be a potential source for extraction of alternative energy in the
coming days. However, developments to improve power generation from urine-fed MFCs at reasonable
scales still face many challenges such as non-availability of sustainable materials, cathodic limitations,
and low power density. The aim of this paper was to critically evaluate the state-of-the-art
research and developments in urine-fed MFCs over the past decade (2008-2018) in terms of their
construction (material selection and configuration), modes of operation (batch, continuous, cascade,
etc.) and performance (power generation, nutrient recovery and waste treatment). This review identifies
the preference for sources of urine for MFC application from human beings, cows and elephants.
Among these, human urine-fed MFCs offer a variety of applications to practice in the real-world scenario.
One key observation is that, effective disinfection can be achieved by optimizing the operating
conditions and MFC configurations without compromising on performance. In essence, this review
demarcates the scope of enhancing the reuse potential of urine for renewable energy generation and
simultaneously achieving resource recovery.
