As microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology continues-to gain momentum toward commercialization, the replacement of traditionally used platinum for oxygen reduction with an inexpensive catalyst becomes more important. A nonprecious nitrogen-doped carbon composite-catalyst with previous applications in PEM fuel cells is demonstrated for the first time in a single chamber air cathode MFC with comparisons to a similar platinum-based MFC. The performance of the MFC is compared with a similar MFC using a platinum catalyst and acetate feed. When the platinum is replaced with the catalyst loaded at the surface of the proton exchange membrane (loading density of 1 mg/cm(2)), MFC operation outperforms a similar platinum based cell. The synthesized catalyst produced 213.2 +/- 13.9 mW/m(2) power density that on average is 151% higher than that for the platinum catalyst. Columbic efficiency was also higher as a result at 6.71 +/- 0.88%. A 2-fold increase in the loading density (2 mg/cm(2)) for the synthesized catalyst resulted in a 305% increase in the generated power compared to the platinum catalyst. This suggests that the nonprecious nitrogen-doped carbon composite is a potentially attractive replacement for conventional platinum as a catalyst for energy production by MFCs.