Sustainable Agri-Power: Utilizing of Plant Spacing in Shared-Anolyte Calamansi
Sustainable Agri-Power: Utilizing of Plant Spacing in Shared-Anolyte Calamansi
Sustainable Agri-Power: Utilizing of Plant Spacing in Shared-Anolyte Calamansi
A RESEARCH PLAN
Secondary Level
Physical Science
Individual Category
October, 2019
Research Adviser
Sustainable Agri-Power: Utilizing of Plant Spacing in Shared-Anolyte Calamansi Citrofortunella
Research Plan
Rationale
Philippines is an emerging country and its economy is greatly shifted from agricultural to
industrial. In terms of energy used, conventional fossil fuels are the main source of its primary
energy demands (IRENA, 2017). The Plant Microbial Fuel Cell (PMFC) uses living plants and
bacteria to generate electricity. The PMFC makes use of naturally occurring processes around the
roots of plants to directly generate electricity. Up to 70% of this organic matter ends up in the
soil as dead root material, lysates, mucilage and exudates. This organic matter can be oxidized by
bacteria living at and around the roots, releasing CO2, protons and electrons. Electrons are
donated by the bacteria to the anode of a microbial fuel cell (Kropff, 2012).
The study aims to find out how plant spacing affects Calamansi Citrofortunella
microcarpa in a Shared-Anolyte Plant Microbial Fuel Cell. Specifically the study will:
1.3 determine the correlation between the mean voltages, plant spacing and the number
Citrofortunella microcarpa Plant Microbial Fuel Cell on different plant spacing; and
2.2 there is no correlation between the mean voltages, plant spacing and the number of
3. Engineering Goals
Electric Companies. This study can benefit the electric companies due to the fact that the
plant microbial fuel cell will be able to produce sustainable electricity. Since the PMFC can be
Environment. It can aid in producing clean energy, such that, it can be a competitor
Agriculture. The technology will be useful in addressing the issues on food supply and
People in Society. It could decrease the cost of electric power and could provide a clean
The thirty three (33) calamansi saplings will be collected from the source in Camarin,
Hamtic, Antique and Sibalom, Antique. The calamansi saplings will be brought to a local
greenhouse in Camarin, Hamtic, Antique ahead of time before the experiment and will be
exposed to sunlight.
The materials such as: eighteen (18) styrofoam containers, eighteen (18) 1.5 liter water
bottles, rainwater, one (1) sack of coco peat, duct tape, twenty-one (21) alligator clips, voltmeter,
measuring tape, copper wire, thirty-six (36) graphite rods, thirty-three (33) net-pots, PVC pipes,
and epoxy will be obtained from local establishments around San Jose de Buenavista, Antique.
Laboratory equipment, materials and tools such as weighing scale, measuring materials,
digital multi-tester and the like will be borrowed from the agriculturist’s greenhouse in Hamtic,
Antique.
The chemical needed such as agar will also be bought from a source.
2. Procedure
The lids of the collected Styrofoam container will be cut accordingly with a diameter
equal to the net-pot. The holes will differ with distances varying from ten (10) centimeters to
10/35 cm
While the calamansi saplings are being obtained from the source, the plant microbial fuel
Seven (7) sets of two-chamber plant microbial fuel cells will be fabricated in containers
The fabricated two-chamber plant microbial fuel cell will be comprised of four (4) parts:
the anode chamber, the cathode chamber, a salt bridge and an electrical circuit.
The styrofoam container and the one gallon plastic bottle will be used as the anode and
cathode chambers of the Plant Microbial Fuel Cell. A hole will be drilled from one side of the
Styrofoam container and one side of the (1.5) liter plastic bottle such that the PVC pipe will be
connected rigidly. One hole will be made on the lid of the bottle such that the copper wire can
pass through.
A salt bridge will be made to connect the plastic bottles and Styrofoam. A beaker and the
following will be needed 100 ml of distilled water will be heated until it reaches the boiling point
(100°). The agar will be dissolved in salt water and will be added to the boiling water. While the
mixture is hot, it will be stirred continuously. The mixture will be poured into the PVC pipe
while it is warm and before it begins to thicken. One end of the pipe will be temporarily sealed
and the agar/salt solution mixture will be allowed to cool and solidify. Afterwards, the PVC pipe
will be connected to the sides of the bottles and will be sealed with epoxy.
After making the salt bridge, ten (10) meters of copper wire that will serve as the
electrodes of the plant microbial fuel cell will be cut using pliers into a length of seven (7) inches
each.
The circuit will then be assembled, the red copper wire will be for the graphite rods and
the black copper wire will be for the cathode. One end of the red copper wire will be wrapped
around the graphite rod and the other end of black wire will be connected to the cathode. The
other ends of the copper wire will be connected to the digital multi-tester using an alligator clip.
The PMFC will be constructed with different numbers of plants. The saplings will be
transferred to the net pots containing 500 grams of coco peat each. The net pots with the saplings
will be properly placed on the holed lids constructed with the different arrangements (refer to
Fig.1).
The graphite electrode will be joined with the finished anode by placing the graphite rod,
approximately one centimeter near the rootstock of the saplings in each treatment. On the
cathode chamber, 9000 ml of salt water will be prepared and will be transferred to the water
PMFC A – 3 calamansi saplings+ 500 grams coco peat+ 1000ml distilled water+ 500ml
PMFC B – 3 calamansi saplings+ 500 grams coco peat+ 1000ml distilled water+ 500ml saltwater
+ 10cm spacing
PMFC C – 2 calamansi saplings+ 500 grams coco peat+ 1000ml distilled water+ 500ml saltwater
+ 35cm spacing
PMFC D – 2 calamansi saplings+ 500 grams coco peat+ 1000ml distilled water+ 500ml
PMFC E – 1 calamansi sapling+ 500 grams coco peat+ 1000ml distilled water+ 500ml saltwater
PMFC F – 500 grams coco peat + 1000ml distilled water+ 1500ml salt water
After the analyses and experimental activities, excess and organic materials will be
placed inside the reagent containers and will be buried thirty (30) centimeters below the ground.
Borrowed and brought materials and equipment will be washed, cleaned, and sterilized
and will be returned inside the science laboratory stock room for future use.
2. Risk and Safety
The chemical that is present in the research is nutrient agar-agar. There is a risk of
exposure to bacteria, microorganisms and chemicals. The researchers will use Personal
The data obtained from the study will be subjected to the following descriptive and
inferential statistical treatments; mean between the number of leaves and the height of the plant,
the standard deviation of each treatment, variance, and critical range of the Tukey-Kramer
The statistical tools that will be used in the study are: Mean-to determine the average
scored of the results of the set-up treatments and the average growth of the plants; Standard
Deviation- to determine the dispersion between mean; Correlation Analysis to determine the
correlation between the voltages, the plant spacing and number of plants of the Plant Microbial
Fuel Cell; Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparison test to
evaluate the treatments means and their interactions at 0.05 level of significance, respectively.
REFERENCES
Journals
David P. B. T. B., (2017) Rachnarin Nitisoravut and Roshan Regmi Plant microbial fuel
cells: A promising biosystems engineering, retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315297440_Plant_microbial_fuel_cells_
A_promising_biosystems_engineering
Feng Zhao et al. (2012) Energy from Plants and Microorganisms: Progress in Plant-
Microbial Fuel Cells, retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51871942_Energy_from_Plants_and_
Microorganisms_Progress_in_Plant-Microbial_Fuel_Cells
Jan F. H. Snel2 and Cees J. N. Buisman1 (2008) Green electricity production with living
plants and bacteria in a fuel cell, retrieved from:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/er.1397
Kropff (2012)- Design criteria for the Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell, retrieved from:
http://edepot.wur.nl/239054
Websites
Darren Quick(2012)- Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell generates electricity from living plants,
Retrieved from: https://newatlas.com/plant-microbial-fuel-cell/25163/
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/plant-microbial-
fuel-cell.htm
https://www.irena.org/publications/2017/Mar/Renewables-Readiness-
Assessment-The-Philippines
Megan Treacy (2012)- Plant-Microbial Fuel Cell Produces Power from Plants from:
https://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/plant-microbial-fuel-cell-produces-
power-plants.html
Nanda Schrama (2015)- How to generate electricity from living plants, from:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/how-can-you-generate-electricity-
from-living-plants