Stratosphere superbugs
February 24, 2012
If an international team of microbiologists are right, a bacteria that was first isolated in the Earth's stratosphere could one day be used as a possible new source of electrical power for household gadgets.
According to a new scientific paper published this week in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, a team of Chinese and British scientists have shown that Bacillus stratosphericus is one of the best-known bug to create microbial fuel cells.
This process takes a bacteria's natural metabolic processes to create small amounts of electricity. The hope is that one day, by harnessing this process, known as bio-catalytic oxidation, engineers could build a device to generate power to larger electrical gadgets and appliances, particularly in areas of the world with poor infrastructure.
While bio-catalytic oxidation and microbial fuel cells are fairly well understood, this new study examines a new step in isolating a particularly energy-efficient species of bacteria. In fact, such fuel cell technology was first discovered over a century ago by M.C. Potter, a professor at Durham University, south of Newcastle, where the British side of the team is based.
Bacillus stratosphericus was first isolated in the stratosphere, the part of the Earth's atmosphere that sits 30 kilometers above the surface. However, it is still unknown whether it exists predominantly on the surface or up in the sky - it was first discovered in 2006.
200 watts of power per cubic meter
The team from Newcastle University initially set out to isolate marine bacteria naturally found in the Wear river that flows through the eastern English town. They wanted not only to understand which bacteria were electricity-producing, but to isolate and breed the best one. Once the team had identified the best one, they sequenced its DNA to determine what kind of bacteria it was.
“Probably what is most interesting is that when we compared all the species that were growing on our electrode, the organism that was having the biggest impact was [Bacillus stratosphericus],” said Grant Burgess, a professor of marine biotechnology at Newcastle University, in an interview with DW. “[It produces] 10 times the amount of power as the closest second place bug.”
The team found that they could create a artificial biofilm, where the bacteria was able to produce 200 watts of power per cubic meter. Although this isn't a new record, this new bacteria may be the most energy-efficient microbial fuel cell discovered so far. Still, at that level of power, it could provide electricity to a few lightbulbs, or even a laptop computer.
“If you generate energy by burning coal or gas, that process of creating energy almost always releases pollutants into the biosphere,” Burgess, who was one of the paper's authors, added. “Very interestingly what a microbial fuel cell does is that it takes pollutants and converts them directly back into electricity. We're trying to develop this into an effective energy source for the future. We therefore think that looking ahead 15 or 20 years from now, you may see more microbial fuel cells once the engineering improves.”
Author: Cyrus Farivar
Editor: Gabriel Borrud