Dec 16 2009
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have developed a novel mechanism that could be used to generate clean electricity from agricultural or domestic waste. Some bacteria survive by ‘breathing rock’ and the researchers have shown for the first time the mechanism by which these bacteria do that. The report was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a leading scientific journal.
Advances in microbe-based technologies could be made by utilizing this new discovery. The technology could be used for fuel cells or bio-batteries that are powered either by human or animal waste. New biochemical agents to clean areas that are polluted by uranium or oil could be developed by using this technology.
Prof David Richardson, UEA’s School of Biological Sciences, who is leading the project, said that this is a significant advance in understanding the bacterial processes in the sub surface of Earth. He further added that this discovery could impact biotechnology and the rock-breathing bacteria could be used to clean areas polluted by toxic wastes such as oil and radioactive metals. This technology could be applied to fuel-cells that are powered by cow manure or sewerage, he added.
Micro-organisms can survive without oxygen, unlike humans, and some bacteria living deep in the subsurface of Earth survive by breathing minerals of iron. Richardson said that these rock-breathing bacteria are capable of releasing electrical charge into the mineral through their cell walls.
Source: http://www.uea.ac.uk