Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Market - Global Industry Analysis (2017 - 2020) - Growth Trends and Market Forecast (2021 - 2025)

Microbial Fuel Cell Market, Set for a Robust CAGR of 9.8% During the Forecast Period, Will Surpass the Revenue of US$15 MN Toward the End of 2025

The latest market intelligence indicates that the wastewater treatment sector will remain the prominent demand generator. While commercial fuel cells have been widely used by the transportation industry, R&D continues to be the area of interest for companies in the fuel cell space. Growing efforts toward exploring other as many areas of application as possible, and maximising the efficiency of fuel cells are uplifting the prospects of other fuel cell categories like microbial fuel cell. Projected for a strong CAGR of 9.8% over 2020 - 2025, the global microbial fuel cell (MFC) market is set to exceed the valuation of US$15 Mn by the end of forecast period.

Key Insights into Microbial Fuel Cell Market:

• The global MFC market revenue recorded in 2020 was around US$9.76 Mn
• Wastewater treatment, the top application area, represents the annual cost of US$28-30 Bn. This points to a massive opportunity for MFC manufacturers
• Mediator microbial fuel cell reigned supreme over other fuel cell segments in 2020
• Asia Pacific registered the maximum revenue share in the global microbial fuel cell market in 2020. North America, and Europe reflect lucrative growth potential

MFC demand witnessed a heavy plunge due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. All the MFC pilot testing projects, research activities, and other experiments came to a standstill during the initial months of pandemic

Prominence of Green Fuel Aids in Market Build-up

The limited resource availability, and heavy upsurge in demand for energy aggravate the global energy crisis. With the reserves of non-renewables diminishing at an alarming pace, the industry operators have been eyeing opportunities to explore the complete potential of renewables. Green fuel has taken the world by storm, receiving strong support from governments, as well as industry participants actively, or indirectly involved in sustainable fuel development. Heightening MFC consumption for wastewater treatment applications also aids in the recovery of microbes, and bacteria suitable for use as a feedstock for electricity generation.

R&D to be the Key to Cost Reduction

Despite a slew of supporting factors, MFC continues to face some serious long-term challenges to the market growth. While the extraordinarily high capital costs will remain the key roadblock to widespread adoption, the limited power output of MFC further forestalls the scope for rapid market expansion. As improved research funding toward achieving enhanced efficiency is expected to aid in overall cost reduction, the market is likely to overcome the cost-associated challenge to a certain extent in the near future. The market for microbial fuel cell is currently in infancy, and still remains to take off as the renewables sector has a number of superior alternatives to it.

Wastewater Treatment, and Biosensor Applications Seal Top Market Position for Asia Pacific

Driven by wastewater treatment applications, and growing MFC usage in biosensors, the market for microbial fuel cell in Asia Pacific dominates on a global level. China, and India are particularly expected to uphold the top positioning of Asia Pacific in the global MFC landscape. On the other hand, the North American market is set to thrive on the back of exploding hydrogen demand for power generation. Europe is also projected to continue to represent a key market, looking at the region's dynamically progressing research environment.

Market Competition

The report provides an elaborate strategic information of the most prominent players driving competition in the global microbial fuel cell market landscape. Some of the key companies include Protonex Technology Corporation, Emefcy, Triqua International, ElectroChem Inc., and Cambrian Innovation In.