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Natural gas inhabited by unusual specialists
September 24, 2007Bacteria with a specific mode of nutrition
A German-American research team of biologists and geochemists has discovered hitherto unknown anaerobic bacteria in marine sediments which need only propane or butane for growth, as reported by the scientific journal "Nature" in its current online issue.
The hydrocarbons ethane, propane and butane -- as well as the main component, methane -- are the major constituents of natural gas. Biological processes may lead to the degradation of these hydrocarbons in underground petroleum reservoirs and other geological habitats. Heinz Wilkes, a leading biogeochemist at GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), points out: "The bacteria isolated here for the first time from marine sediments use sulphate instead of oxygen for respiration and utilize propane and butane as their sole source of carbon and energy. These organisms are tough specialists that have become adapted to strictly utilising only these and no other substrates."
The investigations showed that the bacteria employ an unprecedented biochemical mechanism for transforming what are essentially unreactive hydrocarbons into reactive metabolites which may then be further oxidised to carbon dioxide. The findings concerning this reaction mechanism are an important step in designing new synthetic methods for selectively producing chemicals from hydrocarbons.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
The investigations showed that the bacteria employ an unprecedented biochemical mechanism for transforming what are essentially unreactive hydrocarbons into reactive metabolites which may then be further oxidised to carbon dioxide. The findings concerning this reaction mechanism are an important step in designing new synthetic methods for selectively producing chemicals from hydrocarbons.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Natural Gas Current Events and Natural Gas News RSSNew material could make gases more transportable
Chemists at the University of Liverpool have developed a way of converting methane gas into a powder form in order to make it more transportable.
MIT: A quicker, easier way to make coal cleaner
Construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States is in danger of coming to a standstill, partly due to the high cost of the requirement - whether existing or anticipated - to capture all emissions of carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas.
Coral reefs found growing in cold, deep ocean
Imagine descending in a submarine to the ice-cold, ink-black depths of the ocean, 800 metres under the surface of the Atlantic.
Seismic response to natural gas anomalies in crystalline rocks
The research done at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences has shown that after geochemical experiments, the porosity of crystalline rocks in the middle crust increases sharply due to water-rock interaction.
Study reveals an oily diet for subsurface life
Thousands of feet below the bottom of the sea, off the shores of Santa Barbara, single-celled organisms are busy feasting on oil.
OU Researchers Isolate Microorganisms That Convert Hydrocarbons to Natural Gas
When a group of University of Oklahoma researchers began studying the environmental fate of spilt petroleum, a problem that has plagued the energy industry for decades, they did not expect to eventually isolate a community of microorganisms capable of converting hydrocarbons into natural gas.
Carnegie Mellon urges industry to broaden carbon footprint calculations
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are urging companies to embrace new methods for following the trail of dangerous carbon emissions that are responsible for much of the world's global warming threats.
Turning Waste Material into Ethanol
Say the word "biofuels" and most people think of grain ethanol and biodiesel. But there's another, older technology called gasification that's getting a new look from researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University. By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts, they hope to create ethanol from a wide range of biomass, including distiller's grain left over from ethanol production, corn stover from the field, grass, wood pulp, animal waste, and garbage.
Study predicts crop-production costs will jump dramatically in 2009
Soaring energy prices will yield sharp increases for corn and soybean production next year, cutting into farmers' profits and stretching already high food costs, according to a new University of Illinois study.
Closing the hydrogen economic loop
The inventor of the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) technology used for building batteries for countless portable electronic gadgets and now hybrid gas-electric cars believes the hydrogen economy is already upon us.
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