We first must thank the West Virginia State Journal for deeply appreciated correspondence, in one of the exceedingly rare expressions of direct interest we've received related to our reportage on the genuine, and vast, potentials which exist for converting our abundant domestic Coal and our some-say-too-abundant Carbon Dioxide, on economically and environmentally sound bases, into anything and everything our US political leadership have, for the past half a century, been enabling us to mortgage our grandchildren's future to the alien powers of OPEC to keep ourselves supplied with in the here and now.
We gratefully acknowledge and commend their interest.
Among the State Journal's list of topics addressed in that correspondence, which included some reference material which we had not yet ourselves tracked down, was the subject of what is, in general, among the cognoscenti, known as "electrofuels". That is, hydrocarbon and/or alcohol fuels compounded from available raw materials, such as Carbon Dioxide and Water, with the synthesis of such fuel and hydrocarbon compounds from those raw materials being driven by electrical energy.
An example of such technology would include that seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE 1976 Atmospheric CO2 to Methanol | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 3,959,094 - Electrolytic Synthesis of Methanol from CO2; 1976; Inventor: Meyer Steinberg, NY; Assignee: The USA as represented by the USDOE; Abstract: A method and system for synthesizing methanol from the CO2 in air using electric power".
And, note that such use of electricity for the conversion of Carbon Dioxide into fuels is in addition to the related use of light energy to effect the same end, as in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | New York City CO2 to Methane via Artificial Photosynthesis | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20120208903 - Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Methane Using Visible Light; August, 2012; Inventor: Harry D. Gafney; Assignee: Research Foundation of City University of New York, NYC; Abstract: The invention relates to a method for converting carbon dioxide to methane. The method comprises exposing carbon dioxide adsorbed on a nanoporous silicate matrix to light in the presence of a source of carbon dioxide and a source of hydrogen for a time and under conditions sufficient to convert carbon dioxide to methane".
However, as we all somewhat instinctively know from years of schooling and lifetimes spent consuming the products of agriculture, certain living organisms eons ago became proficient in the art of harvesting light energy and, using the power of enzymes, biocatalysts as it were, employing that light energy to drive the very efficient consumption, and subsequent conversion into organic compounds, of Carbon Dioxide.
And, as seen, for only one example, in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | USDOE Algae Recycle More CO2 and Produce Ethanol | Research & Development'; concerning: "US Patent 7,973,214 - Designer Organisms for Photosynthetic Production of Ethanol from CO2 and Water; 2011; Inventor: James Weifu Lee, TN; Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC, Oak Ridge; Abstract: The present invention provides a revolutionary photosynthetic ethanol production technology based on designer transgenic plants, algae, or plant cells. The designer plants, designer algae, and designer plant cells are created such that the endogenous photosynthesis regulation mechanism is tamed, and the reducing power and energy acquired from the photosynthetic (processes) are used for immediate synthesis of ethanol directly from carbon dioxide and water";
we are becoming more proficient in the employment of those adept organisms to help us to use light energy to effect such productive recycling of Carbon Dioxide.
However, as we have touched on a few times in our reports, as in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Penn State CO2 to CH4 | Research & Development; concerning: "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; 2009; Abstract: 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. (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"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | US Gov Hires Penn State Bugs to Convert CO2 to Methane | Research & Development; concerning: "US Patent Application 20090317882 - Electromethanogenic Reactor and Process for
Methane Production; Date: December, 2009; Inventors: Shaoan Cheng and Bruce Logan; Assignee: The Penn State Research Foundation; Biological processes for producing methane gas and capturing carbon from carbon dioxide are provided according to embodiments of the present invention which include providing an electromethanogenic reactor having an anode, a cathode and a plurality of methanogenic microorganisms disposed on the cathode. Electrons and carbon dioxide are provided to the plurality of methanogenic microorganisms disposed on the cathode. The methanogenic microorganisms reduce the carbon dioxide to produce methane gas";
some microorganisms have the ability to perform what we might term "electrosynthesis", using, instead of light energy, electricity, to efficiently perform biologically what we are, as in our above reference to
"United States Patent 3,959,094 - Electrolytic Synthesis of Methanol from CO2", able to do in a more direct, though also less efficient and more energy-demanding way; i.e., use electricity to drive the recycling of Carbon Dioxide in the synthesis of useful compounds, including hydrocarbon fuels.
And, although sunshine is often in short supply in cloudy old US Coal Country, it is well known that we have, scattered about the hills, some opportunities for generating a little supplemental, non-carbon electricity from our wind and water resources.
And, since, as in "US Patent Application 20090317882 - Electromethanogenic Reactor and Process for Methane Production", certain microorganisms can employ both the energy of biological metabolism and biologically mediated catalysis to effect the conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Water back into hydrocarbons, at a cost of some additionally-supplied energy for an external source that is much less than the energy that was produced when the original Carbon source was oxidized to form the Carbon Dioxide in the first place, it makes sense to start thinking of using the smaller amounts of environmentally-derived electrical energy which can be had, especially where sunlight isn't always available, to recycle to products of the combustion which was used to generate truly commercial amounts of electricity.
Keep in mind that some, perhaps most, available sites where environmental energy can be harnessed to generate electricity don't have enough environmental energy available to generate electricity in amounts, in the amperages and voltages, necessary for meaningful pumping into the "grid". They just can't work up enough "oomph", as it were; and, on a practical basis, it isn't worthwhile. That would be true of most places in US Coal Country nearby Coal-fired power plants. However, with the help of "Electromethanogen's, and their ilk, it is feasible to think in terms of using those smaller amounts of available, environmentally-derived
All of that lies behind, is the thrust of, much, but not all, of the document we bring to your attention herein, a compilation of a virtually unknown program being promoted, in some cases sponsored, on a fairly broad scale by a branch of our United States Department of Energy and by the Society for Biological Engineering, an organized scientific "community" within the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Our excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch are of necessity brief; and, the excerpts we select for inclusion herein are focused on those dealing with "electrofuels"; however, the CO2-recycling and sustainability options covered are broader than that, and, include some things we have already covered for you. That said, we will be treating all of the subjects in more detail in future reports; and, comment follows limited excerpts from:
"electrofuels: SBE'S Conference on Electrofuels Research
November 6-9, 2011, Providence, RI
In an effort to expand and accelerate the investigation of novel sources of alternative energy, the Society for Biological Engineering (SBE) is sponsoring a new conference series on Electrofuels Research.
The conference brings together key participants in energy innovation - engineers, scientists, venture capital investors, entrepreneurs, large corporations, and government officials - to share ideas and research strategies for developing and deploying new liquid transportation fuels. Instead of using petroleum or biomass, the processes to be discussed use microorganisms to harness chemical and electrical energy from sources such as solar-derived electricity or hydrogen or earth-abundant metal ions to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuel with remarkably high efficiency."
Selected papers from the catalogue of "Abstracts" include:
"'Electrofuel Production Using Ammonia or Iron as Redox Mediators in Reverse Microbial Fuel Cells'; Columbia University; The production of electrofuels requires the efficient transport of electrons from an electrochemical system into a biological system. We have approached this challenge by identifying natural chemical mediators that 1) can be easily reduced electrochemically and 2) are natural substrates for different bacterial strains, thus eliminating the need to engineer this aspect of primary metabolism in the biological hosts. In our first project we have constructed a reverse microbial fuel cell using the ammonia oxidizing bacteria, N. europaea. These cells grow planktonically and they efficiently oxidize ammonia to nitrite while fixing carbon dioxide. We have developed an electrochemical reactor to reduce the nitrite back to ammonia so that we are producing biomass from electricity and air. We have recently engineered the N. europaea cells to produce isobutanol, which is a transportation infrastructure compatible biofuel. In a second project we are working with A. ferrooxidans, which is an iron oxidizing bacteria used in biomining operations.
The oxidized iron can be readily reduced electrochemically, and efforts are underway to engineer these cells to make isobutanol as well. As these processes are developed and optimized, they may be able to produce biofuels and other petroleum derived chemicals from electricity and air."
"'Microbial-Electocatalytic Production of Biofuels'; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of California-Berkeley; Logos Technologies; We are developing an integrated Microbial-Electro Catalytic (MEC) system ... for the production of biofuels from CO2 and H2. In this strategy, R. eutropha is being engineered to produce hydrocarbons."
"'Rhodobacter as a Biofuel Production Platform and Associated Autotrophic Bioreactor Design'; Penn State University (and) University of Kentucky; The overall goal of this ARPA-E project is to produce a hydrocarbon fuel feedstock from CO2 based on microorganism growth on H2 or direct electron feeding from a cathode. The approach is to genetically engineer C3-4 branched hydrocarbon biosynthesis."
"'Microbial Reduction of CO2 to Higher Alcohols Driven by Electricity'; University of California; Microbial reduction of CO2 to higher alcohols driven by electricity is considered as an effective way to store electricity as liquid fuel."
"'Hydrogen-Driven Conversion of Carbon dioxide to Liquid Electrofuels in Extremely Thermophilic Archaea';
University of Georgia (et. al.); The recent discovery of novel CO2 fixation pathways in extreme thermophiles, coupled with the recent availability of genetics tools for these microorganisms, has given rise to new opportunities for producing electrofuels at elevated temperatures."
University of Georgia (et. al.); The recent discovery of novel CO2 fixation pathways in extreme thermophiles, coupled with the recent availability of genetics tools for these microorganisms, has given rise to new opportunities for producing electrofuels at elevated temperatures."
"'Microbial Electrosynthesis: the Shortest Path from the Sun to Fuel'; University of Massachusetts; Microbial electrosynthesis is the process in which microorganisms use electrons derived from electrodes to reduce
carbon dioxide to multi-carbon compounds that are excreted from the cell."
carbon dioxide to multi-carbon compounds that are excreted from the cell."
"'Electrosynthesis by Microbial Communities'; University of South Carolina (and) Clemson University; The goal of this project is to use a carbonless source of electrons, e.g. from wind or solar, to bioelectrochemically reduce CO2 into a liquid fuel that may be integrated into the existing transportation infrastructure."
"'Bioconversion of Carbon Dioxide to Biofuels by Facultatively Autotrophic Hydrogen Bacteria'; The Ohio State University (and) Battelle Memorial Institute; Our goal is to use hydrogen bacteria to convert carbon
dioxide to infrastructure-compatible liquid biofuels, such as nbutanol, without the requirements of photosynthesis."
dioxide to infrastructure-compatible liquid biofuels, such as nbutanol, without the requirements of photosynthesis."
"'Engineering Bacteria to Absorb Electrons from an Electrode, Fix CO2, and Synthesize a Biofuel'; Harvard University; The premise of the electrofuels concept is similar to that of photosynthetically derived biofuels: electrons are used as chemical reducing equivalents to drive the reduction of carbon dioxide into a fuel molecule."
"'Microbial Electrosynthesis: Metabolic Engineering, Adaptive Evolution, and System Optimization'; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Microbial electrosynthesis is the process in which microorganisms are provided with electrons at an electrode surface to promote the reduction of carbon dioxide to multi-carbon compounds, such as fuels and other organic commodities."
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And, that, again, is just a selection.
Other papers at the "SBE'S Conference on Electrofuels Research" are just as intriguing as we hope you find those we highlighted above to be. Some deal with other biologically- and chemically-based Carbon Dioxide recycling strategies; and, with Hydrogen production strategies, with the explicit understanding that Hydrogen, once economically produced, can be either chemically combined with Carbon Dioxide to form compounds of value or used to chemically reduce Carbon Dioxide into the more reactive, and more valuable, Carbon Monoxide.
We'll have more detail to offer in reports to follow, on some, if not many, of the individual technical efforts represented at the "Conference on Electrofuels Research".
For now, be assured:
Carbon Dioxide, as it arises in only a small way, relative to natural sources of emission, such as and perhaps especially volcanoes, from our economically essential use of Coal in the generation of abundant and truly affordable electric power, is a valuable raw material resource.
We can, using certain microorganisms to leverage and catalyze the process, and thereby consuming only a small fraction of the electricity produced when the Carbon Dioxide was formed by the combustion of fuel in an electrical generating station, efficiently and profitably convert Carbon Dioxide, as plainly stated, for one example, in our above excerpts by the "University of South Carolina (and) Clemson University", "into a liquid fuel that may be integrated into the existing transportation infrastructure".