LinkNotes: methane

Showing posts with label methane. Show all posts

2009-04-13

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) Producing Methane From CO2

Clipped from: Microbes turn electricity directly to methane

Microbes turn electricity directly to methane

Shaoan Cheng and Defeng Xing (l to r) work with cell that produces methane directly from electricity by way of tiny microbes while Bruce E. Logan looks on.

(PhysOrg.com) -- A tiny microbe can take electricity and directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methane, producing a portable energy source with a potentially neutral carbon footprint, according to a team of Penn State engineers.

Clipped from: Bruce E. Logan

Bruce E. Logan

Research in the Logan lab is focused on bioenergy production for the development of an energy-sustainable water infrastructure for both industrialized and developing countries. Using new technologies, it is possible to directly generate electricity using microbial fuel cells, or hydrogen gas using microbial electrolysis cells, from wastewaters and biomass. These systems have the potential not only to power the water infrastructure, but to produce net excess power for communities and industries.

Clipped from: Bruce Logan Research - Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs)

How does a microbial fuel cell work? When bacteria are placed in the anode chamber of a specially-designed fuel cell that is free of oxygen, they attach to an electrode. Because they do not have oxygen, they must transfer the electrons that they obtain from consumption (oxidation) of their food somewhere else than to oxygen-- they transfer them to the electrode. In a MFC these electrons therefore go to the anode, while the counter electrode (the cathode) is exposed to oxygen. At the cathode the electrons, oxygen and protons combine to form only water. The two electrodes are at different potentials (about 0.5 V), creating a bio-batter (if the system is not refilled) or a fuel cell (if we constantly put in new food or "fuel" for the bacteria).

Check out the MFC-cam, our on-line demonstration of an MFC!

Clipped from: Penn State Live - Microbes turn carbon dioxide into methane

Microbes turn carbon dioxide into methane

The cells are about 80 percent efficient in converting electricity to methane and because they use carbon dioxide as feed stock, would be carbon neutral if the electricity comes from a non-carbon source such as solar or wind power.

"The process does not sequester carbon, but it does turn carbon dioxide into fuel," said Logan. "If the methane is burned and carbon dioxide captured, then the process can be carbon neutral."

Logan suggests the method for off peak capture of renewable energy in a portable fuel. Methane is preferred over hydrogen because a large portion of the U.S. infrastructure is already set up to easily transport and deliver methane.

The National Science Foundation and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. supported this project.

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2009-01-15

Life on Mars

clipped from www.thesun.co.uk

Exclusive

Nasa reveals life on Mars

Proof ... NASA scientists detect
gas on the Red Planet

Nasa scientists say the gas emissions could have either a geological or
biological source - as The Sun exclusively revealed today.

Discovery ... Nasa created image of gas found on Mars

Mission ... probe on the surface of Mars

What a scoop ... Phoenix lander dug up chunks of ice last year

clipped from www.youtube.com

clipped from www.nasa.gov

Mars
NASA Explores the Red Planet

Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet

This image shows concentrations of Methane discovered on Mars.

clipped from www.nasa.gov

Scientists don't yet know enough to say with certainty what the source of the Martian methane is, but this artist's concept depicts a possibility. In this illustration, subsurface water, carbon dioxide and the planet's internal heat combine to release methane. Although we don’t have evidence on Mars of active volcanoes today, ancient methane trapped in ice "cages" might now be released.

clipped from video.google.com

NASA | The Mystery of Martian Methane

2009-01-11

Fuel Producing Bacteria

clipped from memebox.com

Luca Technologies raises $76 million for microbes that 'eat' coal, 'breathe out' natural gas

clipped from www.technologyreview.com

Fuel from Coal-Eating Microbes

A process for converting coal into natural gas could help reduce emissions.

Luca Technologies, a startup based in Golden, CO, has raised $76 million to scale up a process that uses coal-digesting microorganisms to convert coal into methane. The process is designed to operate underground, inside coal beds. Methane, the key component of natural gas, can then be pumped out and used to generate electricity or power vehicles.

Gas bugs: Methane-generating bacteria on a coal sample from Wyoming's Powder River Basin, viewed by scanning electron microscopy.
Credit: Luca Technologies

clipped from www.lucatechnologies.com

Technology Backgrounder Core Inventory Patents Bibliography Flash Photo Gallery

clipped from www.lucatechnologies.com

How a Geobioreactor Functions

The biogenic creation of methane from a higher molecular weight hydrocarbon source is a multi-step process, most likely accomplished by a consortium of microorganisms acting together in a symbiotic fashion. Through a series of steps, various organisms in the consortium breakdown the large hydrocarbon molecules in coal or oil into intermediate, water-soluble compounds, which are then reduced to even smaller hydrocarbon molecules, and finally metabolized into methane by a group of organisms known as methanogens.

In order for a Geobioreactor to function, the appropriate environmental conditions must be present, including an abundant hydrocarbon substrate (such as a coal bed), a water-saturated environment, a complete absence of free oxygen, and the presence of the correct consortia of organisms.

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