AS THE Deepwater Horizon blowout has shown, naturally occurring bugs have dealt with much of the oil spill with almost ruthless efficiency – arguably far better than the clean-up effort by humans.
It is well known that certain bacteria consume petroleum. The question now being asked is whether they can be used to harvest the energy locked up in oil while, at the same time, reducing the COthat burning it releases into the atmosphere.
Steve Larter, professor of geoscience and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Petroleum Geology at the University of Calgary, said: “Petroleum biodegradation takes place in environments where petroleum is near ground level, actually seeping from the surface, or in oil-spill situations.
“Bacteria, yeasts, moulds and certain fungi naturally break down petroleum in these environments.”
Larter has been studying how these microbes take the byproducts of decomposition, such as CO, and produce methane (natural gas) and hydrogen – less polluting fuels.
He has also examined the feasibility of capturing carbon-dioxide and pumping it and special bacteria underground into alkaline rock formations where the CO, the most abundant greenhouse gas, would be converted into natural gas, a valuable source of energy.