Photosynthetic Fuel Cells: Just an Interesting Concept or a Promise for Future Technology?

The increasing concern about future environmental disasters as a result of global climate change is driving the efforts to develop novel clean energy technologies that will replace combustible fuels. A promising approach is the utilization of native photosynthesis as an electron source in bio-electrochemical cells. Over the past few years, there have been numerous descriptions of technologies for electrical current production using isolated photosynthetic complexes or membranes, intact microorganisms, or microorganism tissues in different electrochemical setups. In this review, we summarize these methods, and address the key factors that influence photocurrent generation and how can they be improved. Finally, we discuss the potential of photosynthetic-based bioelectricity production to become a real applicative solution that will be able to compete with existing technologies such as solar cells.