Fungal Application in Bioelectricity Production: Applications, Challenges, and Perspectives

Fungal bioelectrochemical systems exploit the metabolic versatility of fungi to generate electricity and enable integrated wastewater treatment, biosensing, and resource recovery platforms. This chapter documents fungi-mediated electron transfer, including direct extracellular electron transfer, redox-active enzymes, and the role of endogenous and exogenous mediators in enhancing electricity production. Representative fungal genera reported for bioelectricity applications and degradative capabilities are reviewed alongside reactor configurations that optimize fungal colonization, electrode interfacing, and mass transfer for sustained electricity generation. Wastewater-driven power generation, integrated bioremediation-power platforms, biosensing, and decentralized energy recovery from lignocellulosic residues are mentioned. The chapter addresses principal challenges: inherently low power densities, limited electron transfer kinetics, biofilm management and longevity, scale-up complexities linked to electrode design, and process economics. The chapter evaluates engineering responses such as electrode surface functionalization, tailored electrode architectures, fungal strain selection, consortia design, and metabolic or protein-level engineering to enhance redox flux. Perspectives on integrating fungal fuel cells into circular bioeconomy frameworks are discussed, emphasizing their potential for decentralized energy systems and resource recovery. Future research priorities, including molecular elucidation of fungal electron pathways, development of standardized performance metrics, hybridization with bacterial electroactive partners, and demonstrations at pilot scale to validate long-term stability, are highlighted in this chapter. By depicting current research and technological advances, this chapter positions fungi as key players in next-generation bioelectrochemical systems, offering insights into their untapped potential for clean energy innovation.