A consortium of teams from 6 universities aims to achieve major advances in a technology that potentially produces electricity directly from sustainable biological materials and air, in devices known as biological fuel cells. These devices are of two main types: in microbial fuel cells micro-organisms convert organic materials into fuels that can be oxidised in electrochemical cells, and in enzymatic fuel cells electricity is produced as a result of the action of an enzyme (a biological catalyst). Fuels that can be used include (1) pure biochemicals such as glucose, (2) hydrogen gas and (3) organic chemicals present in waste water.The Consortium programme involves a unique combination of microbiology, enzymology, electrochemistry, materials science and computational modelling. Key challenges that the Consortium will face include modelling and understanding the interaction of an electrochemical cell and a population of micro-organisms, attaching and optimising appropriate enzymes, developing and studying synthetic assemblies that contain the active site of a natural enzyme, optimising electrode materials for this application, and designing, building and testing novel biological fuel cells.A Biofuel Cells Industrial Club is to be formed, with industrial partners active in water management, porous materials, microbiology, biological catalysis and fuel cell technology. The programme and its outcomes will be significant steps towards producing electricity from materials and techniques originating in the life sciences. The technology is likely to be perceived as greener than use of solely chemical and engineering approaches, and there is considerable potential for spin off in changed technologies (e.g. cost reductions, reduction in the need for precious metals, biological catalysts for production of hydrogen by electrolysis).

Chronic liver disease affects about 29-million Europeans accounting for about 170,000 deaths at a cost of around €15.8bn. This chronic non-communicable disease is increasing at an alarming rate due to increasing European obesity, alcohol use and ageing. The three main causes of the disease; alcohol, fatty liver and viral hepatitis are amenable to prevention and treatment. Gut-derived endotoxins and bacterial translocation are central factors implicated in the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease and, the development and progression of cirrhosis. In cirrhosis, current state-of-the-art therapy to prevent recurrent complications of advanced cirrhosis is to use poorly absorbed antibiotics but long-term antibiotic therapy has problems associated with bacterial resistance, infection with resistant organisms and the cost. Treatment of fatty liver and modulation of bacterial translocation in early cirrhosis to prevent complications is an unmet need. Our academic-industrial consortium has developed a novel, patented, safe and cheap nanoporous carbon that modulates the effects of bacterial translocation in animal models of liver disease. Our feasibility studies demonstrate that this product advances the current state-of-the-art, is a TRL 4/5 and is now ready for validation through clinical trials. We propose to investigate the safety and efficacy of this novel nanoporous carbon in patients with fatty liver disease and cirrhosis. If successful, we will be able to confirm an innovative, cost-effective and novel strategy for the management of this chronic disease in a European population. Exploitation of the results of the CARBALIVE project will support the continued development of this carbon through additional private and public sector investment. The use of this innovative therapy is expected to reduce the economic burden of the disease in Europe, allow patients to achieve enhanced quality of life, improve survival, and allow many patients to return to economic productivity.