Xenia Christodoulou

University of Geneva | UNIGE · Section of Earth and Environmental Sciences

The current food method in space is launching prepackaged food which is costly and unsustainable. Alternatives include growing crops and microalgae single cell protein (SCP) using artificial light photosynthesis, which are energy inefficient. Prepackaged food and microalgae food were compared to microbial electrosynthesis of acetic acid (MES-AA). S...

Recyclable food technologies are essential for long-term manned space missions. This research compares customary and alternative space foods to non-biological synthesis (NBS) systems using recycled CO2. Using electrochemical conversion of CO2 as a starting point, different carbohydrate synthesis routes are reviewed. Sugars and glycerol are consider...

A sun-blocking global catastrophic risk (GCR) such as a nuclear winter could completely collapse the agricultural system. Producing alternative foods through methods requiring little to no sunlight has been identified as a cost-effective response to these types of GCRs. This preliminary techno-economic assessment evaluates the potential of acetic a...

This study examines the latest advancements in the field of Microbial ElectroSynthesis (MES) and reports a unique sustainability and economic assessment for the production of five alternative compounds (formic, acetic, propionic acids; methanol and ethanol). Different chemical production conditions were compared by modelling a 1000 t per year produ...

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) and anaerobic fermentation (AF) are two biological processes capable of reducing CO2, CO and water into acetic acid, an essential industrial reagent. In this study, we evaluated investment and production costs of acetic acid via MES and AF, and compared them to industrial chemical processes: methanol carbonylation a...