Direct Biological Conversion of Electrical Current into Methane by Electromethanogenesis - Environmental Science & Technology.
We have, over the months, made many references to Penn State University's "Tri-reforming" technology, as described most thoroughly by Chunsan Song and Craig Grimes, on the faculty of PSU, wherein Carbon Dioxide is reacted with Methane to synthesize higher hydrocarbons of commercial value and utility.
We have also made many references to the Sabatier technology, which was awarded the Nobel Prize early in the last century and which is still employed by NASA today, wherein Carbon Dioxide is recycled into Methane.
And, we have cited many reports wherein certain microbes, "archeo" bacteria, consume Carbon Dioxide and excrete Methane in the course of their metabolism.
We have suggested that the several technologies could be somehow combined into a complete Carbon Dioxide recycling system.
As we hinted in an earlier submission, Penn State just might be thinking along the same lines, as they have developed, or have begun to develop, a synergistic technology wherein biology and industry are combined to convert Carbon Dioxide into Methane in an efficient process that could, we submit, be powered by excess generating station electricity.
Some excerpts from the above link, with comment appended:
"Direct Biological Conversion of Electrical Current into Methane by Electromethanogenesis
Shaoan Cheng, Defeng Xing, Douglas F. Call and Bruce E. Logan
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
March 26, 2009; Published by the American Chemical Society
Abstract
New sustainable methods are needed to produce renewable energy carriers that can be stored and used for transportation, heating, or chemical production. Here we demonstrate that methane can directly be produced using a biocathode containing methanogens in electrochemical systems (abiotic anode) or microbial electrolysis cells (MECs; biotic anode) by a process called electromethanogenesis. At a set potential of less than −0.7 V (vs Ag/AgCl), carbon dioxide was reduced to methane using a two-chamber electrochemical reactor containing an abiotic anode, a biocathode, and no precious metal catalysts. At −1.0 V, the current capture efficiency was 96%. Electrochemical measurements made using linear sweep voltammetry showed that the biocathode substantially increased current densities compared to a plain carbon cathode where only small amounts of hydrogen gas could be produced. Both increased current densities and very small hydrogen production rates by a plain cathode therefore support a mechanism of methane production directly from current and not from hydrogen gas. The biocathode was dominated by a single Archaeon, Methanobacterium palustre. When a current was generated by an exoelectrogenic biofilm on the anode growing on acetate in a single-chamber MEC, methane was produced at an overall energy efficiency of 80% (electrical energy and substrate heat of combustion). These results show that electromethanogenesis can be used to convert electrical current produced from renewable energy sources (such as wind, solar, or biomass) into a biofuel (methane) as well as serving as a method for the capture of carbon dioxide."
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And, we will suppose that, once Logan and Call, et. al., have made Methane out of their Coal power plant CO2, they will pass that Methane along to Song and Grimes, so that they can use that CO2-derived Methane to make higher hydrocarbons out of their CO2.
Maybe we're just stupid. But, we confess, that complete recycling of CO2 makes a whole lot more sense, to us, than taxing our Coal use industries out of business through Cap and Trade schemes; or, scamming our Coal use industries, and the consumers of Coal-based products, such as electricity, into supporting and paying for Big Oil's petroleum reservoir scavenging, and his own plans for methanogenic CO2 recycling in depleted petroleum reservoirs, through mandated Sequestration.
Doesn't it make more sense to you?
