Volcanic bioorganism consumes CO2
Scientists claim that a volcanic microorganism absorbs carbon emissions astonishingly and swiftly. The discovery of a carbon-capturing bacterium in hot springs may pave the way for an effective method of absorbing greenhouse gas.
Researchers have discovered a microorganism that consumes carbon dioxide astonishingly and quickly in a volcanic hot spring. The scientists are hoping to use CO2 absorbing bacteria as an effective technique to remove the greenhouse gas from the environment.
Fossil fuel burning must be stopped in order to solve the climate catastrophe, but most scientists concur that CO2 must also be removed from the atmosphere to prevent further harm.
The new microbe, a cyanobacterium, was found in volcanic seeps close to the Italian island of Vulcano in September where the water is highly carbonated.
The microbe, according to the researchers, converted CO2 into biomass more quickly than any other known cyanobacteria. The team spent February 2023 exploring hot springs in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, where CO2 concentrations are significantly greater.
These findings are being examined. As part of a database that links DNA sequences with stored samples of the bacteria, the researchers promised to disclose all of their information on microbes and make it accessible to other researchers.
Weill Cornell Medical College and Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Braden Tierney reported that his principle collaborator at Harvard had discovered an organism that developed remarkably swiftly in comparison to other cyanobacteria.
According to him, the initiative benefits from 3.6 billion years of microbial evolution. Microbes are useful because they are self assembling machines.
Biotechnology business Seed Health
With a lot of the chemical methods for CO2 capture, you don’t have that. According to Tierney, the new microbe has another peculiar quality that may help it collect the CO2, absorbs it. It sinks in water.
However, the microbe was not a panacea. It is true that there isn’t a carbon capture or climate change solution that fits all situations yet. There will be situations where a tree performs better than a fungus or a microorganism.
But there will also be instances, he added, where you really want an aquatic microbe that grown quickly and sinks. He suggested that might include huge ponds that capture carbon.
Additionally, the microbe may be able to create an useful bioplastic. The biotechnology business Seed Health, which also employs Tierney as a consultant, provided that project’s funding.
The business already offers probiotics for human health, has created a probiotic for bees, and is cooking into how microbial enzymes might be used to break down plastics.
Co-CEO Raja Dhir of Seed Health, the company was formed on the idea that by releasing the microbiome’s enormous potential that can improve both human and planetary health.
“Our collaboration with Dr.Tierney perfectly fits that goal and could lead to the development of new carbon capture models” said him. Research is now being done on the idea of employing bacteria to capture CO2, possibly improved through genetic engineering.
According to a recent assessment, using modified bacteria to regulate CO2 has the extra benefit of producing beneficial industrial byproducts including biofuels, medical compounds, and bioplastics.
Bacteria to manufacture useful chemicals trapping CO2
This suggests that bacteria may be able to manufacture useful chemicals in additions to trapping CO2. To turn CO2 into useful fuels and chemicals, the US business LanzaTech already utilises microbes.
Cyanobacteria are being used by the UK based CyanoCapture, which has the support of Shell and Elon Musk, to produce biomass and biological oils. ExxonMobil recently halted its research on using algae to make biofuels, but several other companies are still researching the idea.
The CO2 that was captured when burning biofuels is released back into the sky. However, studies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US are looking into the possibility of using bacteria to precipitate minerals that can capture carbon from seawater and store CO2.
This discovery is based on a catalyst enzyme that is also being investigated by Chinese researchers who are searching for heat-resistant enzymes at hot vents on the ocean floor.
It has also been demonstrated that bacteria in caves may convert CO2 into minerals. Other researchers are working to reduce carbon emissions from cement production by using bacteria.
Volcanic bacteria absorbs and captures carbon emissions quickly and astonishingly. It can remove greenhouse gas. Biotechnology companies such as LanzaTech and Seed Health already use bacteria to capture carbon dioxide.
Source: The Guardian
