Overview
The massive emission of greenhouse gases is an important cause of today's climate crisis. Therefore, how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is undoubtedly an important technological development direction. Our approach is to advance the development of this new type of bioenergy by improving the power generation efficiency of microbial fuel cells (MFC). Make it an important alternative to fossil energy, thereby reducing the huge carbon emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels. It is our value to improve the living environment of human beings through the new application of synthetic biology technology. Before implementing new technology, public opinion is very important, which will determine whether our project can actually benefit society. We therefore conducted extensive questionnaires and interviews, and conducted detailed analyses. Only in this way can we fully understand the real needs of society and create new value in a targeted manner.
We have collected nearly 500 questionnaires in the past year from almost all of China, covering 28 provinces and an area of more than 6.7 million square kilometres. Their age and occupational distribution also cover almost all stages, which can roughly reflect the attitudes and opinions of various groups. 10 professionals in different fields provided us with valuable advice from their respective perspectives, allowing us to achieve substantial results, specific information about our interviews please visit: Intergrated Human Practice. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all the participants in our project!
Questionnaire 1
A questionnaire was sent to the general public to find out their opinion about today's batteries and MFC. 350 results were received.
The result shows that most people use batteries less frequently or moderately in their daily lives, while a few use them more or very frequently.
For different forms of batteries, non-rechargeable batteries in daily life and small rechargeable batteries, which are the most common have been used by the largest number of people, 81.71 % and 60.86 % respectively, followed by medium-sized rechargeable batteries. In contrast, only 2.57 % of people have come into contact with large rechargeable batteries used by specific enterprises or research institutes.
As for the defects of the existing batteries, insufficient capacity, short life of rechargeable batteries and environmental pollution are the three most mentioned defects, accounting for more than 50 %, of which 66.38 % of people mentioned environmental pollution, which shows that this is the public's greatest concern. Besides, some people think that the existing battery problems are high price, slow charging and discharging speed and large batteries are bulky, etc.
On the question of whether batteries, a form of energy storage, are likely to disappear in the foreseeable future, most people are optimistic, with 41.03 % believing that there is a high probability that batteries will not disappear in the foreseeable future, while 18.52 % believe that they definitely will not disappear. 31.05 % believe that they will not necessarily disappear, only 8.55 % believe that there is a high probability that batteries will disappear, and 0.85 % think the battery will disappear.
The majority of people have some knowledge about MFC. The number of people who have heard a little about MFC but do not know about them is the largest, accounting for 36.47 %; while those who have not heard of them at all account for 17.95 %; and only 1.99 % have heard of them and know them very well. This shows that MFC have entered the public eye to a certain extent, but most of the public still does not know about them. This indicates that there is still considerable room for the popularization of MFC.
The overall level of public interest in MFC is high, as more than half of the people are interested in MFC, and 14.25 % are very interested; only 4.84 % are not interested at all. This indicates that the publicity and popularization of MFC can be easily accepted by the public, and there is also great room for development.
Most of the people show an accommodating posture toward MFC, with 29.63 % of them saying they are very acceptable; 39.32 % of them saying they are relatively acceptable; 27.07 % of them saying they are indifferent, and only a few of them saying they are not acceptable. It shows that MFC has a high expected market acceptance and recognition, and a good prospect.
Regarding the advantages of MFC, the largest number of people, reaching 89.74 %, believe that the first thing is clean and environmentally friendly. This also echoes the previous battery-related issues that the public is most concerned about. Besides, low cost, portability, a wide range of use scenarios and high efficiency than existing batteries are also advantages that many people think MFC have. However, some of these answers are incorrect, which shows that there are still many people who do not know much about MFC.
The public also has concerns about MFC. One of the most cited concerns is the environmental impact of microbial leakage. Also, the problems of low-capacity efficiency, narrow usage area, and lack of lightness were mentioned. This shows that the public has a lot of ignorance and concerns about this new form of battery, which requires us to further popularize knowledge on the one hand and to help guide the research based on public feedback to improve these aspects.
It can be roughly seen that the older age group has significantly lower knowledge and relatively higher interest in MFC, and the overall acceptance level is the same or slightly higher compared to other groups, indicating that the older age group may be more worthy of carrying out science promotion and publicity work on MFC.
In summary, we believe that MFC have now entered the public eye to some extent, but most people are not particularly aware of them yet. The main advantage of MFC in the eyes of the public is their contribution to environmental protection in a situation where conventional battery forms are still used more frequently. This can also solve the biggest problem that the public considers to exist in the current battery, which is environmental pollution. In the current environment where the public has a high level of interest and acceptance, MFC also have a good market prospect. However, the public still has concerns about their safety, capacity and efficiency. And there are still many people who do not know much about MFC. Therefore, there is still considerable room for the promotion and development of MFC.
By analysing the effect of age on the statistical results, we can generally conclude that older groups have less knowledge about MFC, but also have a higher level of interest, so we can focus on these groups in future science popularization and publicity.
After learning about the public's perception of batteries and MFC, we will carry out more popularization and publicity work related to MFC and our project, and explore the application prospects and impacts of MFC in more depth, to help the development of the product and the promotion of MFC.
Questionnaire 2
We surveyed public perceptions of synthetic biology methods in wastewater treatment and biosensing. A total of 123 responses were received. Through the questionnaire, we found that although synthetic biology has come into our lives, the public still has doubts about its efficiency and accuracy.
In terms of sewage treatment, generally speaking, the respondents are satisfied with the domestic sewage treatment level, but they also put forward higher requirements for the future.
It is worth noting that young people have higher demands on sewage treatment than older. As for the idea of using microorganisms in sewage treatment, more than 70 % of the respondents thought it was excellent to kill two birds with one stone, but a few people questioned the idea.
From the report, we can know that if the microbial water purifier can enter our life sometimes, the first thing to ensure must be practical, followed by a cost-effective and aesthetic degree.
In terms of microbial sensors, almost all respondents indicated that the technology would have a wide range of applications, covering the food industry, environmental monitoring, fermentation industry and medicine.
However, more than 60 % of respondents said they did not know whether microbial sensors had been used in their daily lives, indicating the importance of publicity and popularization.
In a word, the public is optimistic about whether synthetic biology can be applied in sewage treatment and biosensing, but the specific implementation measures are still unknown. We need to carry out relevant popular science lectures to improve public understanding.