{"id":70467,"date":"2019-10-22T06:40:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T04:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rss.nova-institut.net\/public.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biofuelsdigest.com%2Fbdigest%2F2020%2F01%2F05%2Fbacteria-devouring-methane-produces-biofuels-and-biopolymers%2F"},"modified":"2020-01-12T14:12:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T13:12:18","slug":"pioneering-a-path-to-cleaner-fuels-and-fewer-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/pioneering-a-path-to-cleaner-fuels-and-fewer-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering a path to cleaner fuels and fewer emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Released from oil and gas processing, animal agriculture and other human activities, methane gas emissions are one of the leading causes of pollution and climate change. It traps more heat than CO2 and makes up about 25 per cent of Canada\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

UAlberta engineering PhD candidate Fatemeh Bakhtiari Ziabari is investigating ways to eliminate atmospheric methane on an industrial scale while producing sustainable biofuels and biopolymers.<\/p>\n

To do so, she\u2019s using microscopic bacteria that eat methane and convert it into valuable ingredients in biofuels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese bacteria produce biopolymers under certain conditions, and they use the biopolymers as energy source back-up,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like when we store fat in our bodies and when we need energy, our body uses that. Same thing with these bacteria,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how we solve this problem\u2014using bacteria. Using the force of nature itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge is growing the bacteria in a bioreactor, creating perfect conditions for them to thrive and devour methane on an industrial scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cBacteria are like human beings,\u201d she said. \u201cWe get sick sometimes and can\u2019t perform as well as we did before. When it gets cold, we feel chilly and we just don\u2019t want to go out and work. The bacteria are the same way. They can be pretty temperamental, so sometimes they just don\u2019t grow because of a reason that can\u2019t be pinpointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the idea is to install bioreactors at industrial sites that produce methane. The gas can be piped into the bioreactor. Under ideal conditions, the bacteria will eat and process the methane\u2014and multiply\u2014at steady state. While byproducts are pumped out, more methane can be added to the vessel. This process is called self-cycling fermentation<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have bacteria produced and harvested from the reactor the whole time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like having a very large reactor while I really don\u2019t. I have a limited volume in the reactor, but my productivity is actually continuous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bakhtiari Ziabari is targeting big industry with this technology. By piping into a methane-producing system, the bioreactors containing the methane-devouring bacteria will be able to eliminate as much methane as the tiny lifeforms can consume\u2013which is a lot.<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s optimistic for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people that might say climate change is not real. But I see a lot of people, including scientists, who are trying to think about what we are doing to the world and who are trying to come up with ways to minimize our impact on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Released from oil and gas processing, animal agriculture and other human activities, methane gas emissions are one of the leading causes of pollution and climate change. It traps more heat than CO2 and makes up about 25 per cent of Canada\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions. UAlberta engineering PhD candidate Fatemeh Bakhtiari Ziabari is investigating ways to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[13383,13306,5817],"supplier":[1749],"class_list":["post-70467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bacteria","tag-methane","tag-research","supplier-university-of-alberta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70467"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=70467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}