Eksplorasi hasil fosil secara besar-besaran menyebabkan penurunan jumlah

cadangan bahan bakar sehingga terjadinya krisis energi. Berdasarkan Blueprint

Pengelolaan Energi Nasional 2005-2025 yang disusun oleh Departemen Energi dan
Sumber Daya Mineral, jumlah cadangan minyak di Indonesia yang berjumlah 9 miliar
barel dengan tingkat produksi 500 juta barel per tahun diperkirakan akan habis dalam
waktu 18 tahun. Cadangan gas diperkirakan akan habis dalam waktu 61 tahun,
sedangkan cadangan batu bara yang berjumlah 19,3 miliar ton akan habis dalam
waktu 147 tahun dengan tingkat produksi sebesar 130 juta ton per tahun (Saputra,
2009). Pengunaan bahan bakar seperti batubara sebesar 41%, BBM 34%, gas 14%,
hidrogen 8% dan panas bumi 3% menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar penggunaan
energi berasal dari fosil (Sujatmiko, 2009). Sehingga perlu dilakukan pengembangan
energi alternatif baru dan terbarukan.
Biomass is the most common form of renewable energy. Recently, much
attention has been focused on the developments of low-cost, high-energy-output, and
environmentally friendly technical pathways to an effective conversion of biomass
to energy. [1] Due to advancement in the agricultural industries, millions of tons of
wastes and byproducts are generated every year that have potential as low-cost sources
of energy and material.[14] One of these byproducts is sugarcane bagasse, which can
be used in the production of industrial enzymes, ethanol, xylitol, organic acids, etc.[4,5].
Bagasse is a residue obtained from sugarcane after it is crushed to obtain the juice used
for sugar and ethanol production. Another important sugarcane residue is the leaves,
which are usually left in agricultural fields during sugarcane harvesting.[68].
Sugarcane bagasse (SB) and sugarcane leaves/trash (SL or ST) contain appreciable
amount of cellulose and hemicellulose, which can be de-polymerized by chemical or
enzyme cocktails into simple sugar monomers (glucose, xylose, arabinose, mannose,
galactose, etc.).7,8 Such sugar streams obtained from SB and SL can be converted into
bioethanol and value-added products of commercial significance, which has joint
economic importance.4,7 10
Biomass fuel cells have recently received increasing attention because fuel
cells have a high energy conversion efficiency and low environmental impact.[5, 6]
The biomass fuel-cell technology can convert chemical energy stored in
biomass into electricity through biomass oxidation at the anode and oxygen
reduction at the cathode. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and microbial fuel cells
(MFCs) are two traditional technologies that can generate electricity by consuming
biomass. However, solid biomass should first be gasified to syngas or biogas at high
temperature (6001000 C) for application in SOFCs, and the performance is highly
limited by contaminants such as sulfur and carbon deposition.[710] MFCs can
convert biomass at room temperature through microorganisms, but lignocellulosic
biomass requires complicated pretreatment prior to use.[7, 11] The extremely low
power output and strong dependence on conditions (e.g. , temperature, moisture, and
pH dependence) of MFCs hinder their application.[12]
Recently, a new biomass flow fuel cell that can directly oxidize biomass and
generate electricity at low temperature (< 100 8C) was reported.[1315]. Weibel et
al.[16] reported a low-temperature coal fuel cell using Fe3 + /Fe2 + as liquid reformer
to de- compose subbituminous coal. However, the researchers only examined the
anodic half-cell reaction between liquid Fe 3 + and coal and did not provide the basis
for a practical low-temperature fuel cell. Another study reported the oxidation of
methane by Fe3 + , effectively catalyzed by platinum black in H2SO4 solution. [17].
Pada penelitian ini, Biomassa Fuel Cell (BFC) yang berbahan baku ampas tebu
diuraikan dengan elektrolit Fe3+ dan arus yang dihasilkan dari reaksi redoks antara