TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING - Preferred Method: The microbes are in the form of a biofilm on the anode. The fuel processing effluent is subjected to a pre-oxidation treatment step before being treated by the microbial fuel cell, where the pre-oxidation treatment step uses ozone as an oxidant. The cathode of the microbial fuel cell is operated in the substantial absence of oxygen. The microbial fuel is operated so that the hydrogen gas is produced at the cathode, by operating the microbial fuel cell under the conditions that the cathode is constructed of a hydrogen-producing material and is deoxygenated, and the cell potential of the microbial fuel cell is adjusted by application of an external voltage, so that the hydrogen is produced at the cathode, where the resulting hydrogen gas is used as an electricity-generating fuel to power the electrosorption mechanism. The hydrogen is processed in a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell to convert the hydrogen to electricity. The microbial fuel is operated so that the cathode electrochemically reduces at least one electrochemically reducible species other than hydrogen ions, where the electrochemically reducible species comprises at least one electrochemically reducible metal cation. The first system of at least one microbial fuel cell operates, at least initially, on a non-effluent nutritive source to generate electrical power, which is used to operate at least one electrosorption unit, and processed effluent emanating from the electrosorption unit is fed back to the microbial fuel cell. The microbial fuel cells operate more effectively in effluent having a total salt concentration below a critical salt concentration, and the non-effluent nutritive source has a total salt concentration below the critical salt concentration. The first system of at least one microbial fuel cell operates solely on a non-effluent nutritive source to generate electrical power which is used to operate at least one electrosorption unit, and processed effluent emanating from the electrosorption unit is fed to a second system of the microbial fuel cell. The first system of at least one microbial fuel cell processes the effluent to generate electrical power, which is used to operate at least one electrosorption unit, and processed effluent emanating from the electrosorption unit is fed to a second system of the microbial fuel cell, where the microbial fuel cells of the first system can operate in effluent of a given salt concentration and the microbial fuel cell of the second system operates more effectively in effluent having a total salt concentration below the given salt concentration. The cation-selective permeable material separates an anode region comprising the anode from a cathode region comprising the cathode. Preferred Components: The anode comprises a form of elemental carbon. The cathode of the microbial fuel cell is a platinum/air electrode. The cathode of the microbial fuel cell is a biocathode.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The carbonaceous compounds comprise at least one hydrocarbon compound comprising benzene, toluene, xylene or polycyclic hydrocarbon. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.