Stanford scientists use microbes to make 'clean' methane

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2012/pr-microbes-clean-methane-072412.html

[font face=Serif]View video here.

July 24, 2012

[font size=5]Stanford scientists use microbes to make 'clean' methane[/font]

[font size=4]Most methane comes from natural gas, a fossil fuel. Stanford and Penn State scientists are taking a greener approach using microbes that can convert renewable electricity into carbon-neutral methane.[/font]

By Mark Shwartz

[font size=3]Microbes that convert electricity into methane gas could become an important source of renewable energy, according to scientists from Stanford and Pennsylvania State universities.

Researchers at both campuses are raising colonies of microorganisms, called methanogens, which have the remarkable ability to turn electrical energy into pure methane – the key ingredient in natural gas. The scientists' goal is to create large microbial factories that will transform clean electricity from solar, wind or nuclear power into renewable methane fuel and other valuable chemical compounds for industry.

"Most of today's methane is derived from natural gas, a fossil fuel," said Alfred Spormann, a professor of chemical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. "And many important organic molecules used in industry are made from petroleum. Our microbial approach would eliminate the need for using these fossil resources."

While methane itself is a formidable greenhouse gas, 20 times more potent than CO[font size=1]₂[/font], the microbial methane would be safely captured and stored, thus minimizing leakage into the atmosphere, Spormann said.

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[PamW]

1. Short term view...

Sure you can make methane with microbes and do that in an environmentally friendly manner and not release CO2 to the atmosphere.

The problem is THEN WHAT.

Methane is chemical formula CH4. When you burn methane, you oxidize it via:

CH4 + 2O2 --> CO2 + 2H2O

The combustion of that methane by the end user is still going to give us an exhaust product of CO2.

The fact that they can make the methane without CO2 release doesn't solve the basic problem.

BTW converting electricity into a burnable fuel is a BAD idea from a thermodynamic viewpoint in any case.

Electricity is "entropy free" energy - it's the highest valued energy in a thermodynamic sense. An entropy free version of energy like electricity can be used without creating waste heat.

When you burn a burnable fuel; you create heat, and hence entropy; and you need to exhaust that entropy; and that mandates waste heat.

If you have a high value energy like electricity; your best plan is to use it.

PamW