Bacteria to generate electricity

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Bacteria to generate electricity​

Using blue-green bacteria, researchers have for the first time developed a way to convert sunlight directly into electricity in a CO2-free manner. The study illustrates that electrogenic workings of cyanobacteria is an important conduit of solar energy into the biosphere, says associate professor Ilia Baskakov, PhD. Baskakov, who led the study, says that such findings could lead to ways to generate energy in a self-sustainable manner using renewable resources



Using blue-green bacteria, researchers have for the first time developed a way to convert sunlight directly into electricity in a CO2-free manner.

The study illustrates that electrogenic workings of cyanobacteria is an important conduit of solar energy into the biosphere, says associate professor Ilia Baskakov, PhD. Center for Biomedical Engineering and Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)

Baskakov, who led the study, says that such findings could lead to ways to generate energy in a self-sustainable manner using renewable resources.

Climate change related to global warming and the demand for energy are two of society's most pressing problems and both can be solved if new technologies are developed," says Baskakov.

The UMB researchers discovered that cyanobacteria possess a natural light-dependent electrogenic activity. The bacteria can generate and transfer high-energy electrons-generate electricity-to the external environment under illumination.

Cyanobacteria fix within themselves an estimated 25 Giga tons of carbon, in the form of CO2 per year and account for 20-30 percent of Earth's total photosynthetic productivity.

There exists a diversity of different species of cyanobacteria all over the world, from temperate ponds to some of the most inhospitable environments imaginable such as the Sahara desert or Antarctic glaciers.

Colonies of cyanobacteria can form filaments, sheets or even hollow balls. On a global scale, the amount of solar energy that is harvested by cyanobacteria exceeds more than 25 times the energy consumed by humans.

Cyanobacteria utilize the energy of sunlight to drive photosynthesis, a process where the energy of light is used to split water molecules into oxygen, protons and electrons.

While most of the high-energy electrons derived from water are utilized by the cyanobacterial cells for their own needs, scientists at the University of Maryland BioMET laboratories found that a fraction of these electrons are donated to the external environment.

To harvest those electrons from cyanobacteria, the scientists developed a photosynthetic microbial fuel cell, or PMFC, that serves as both a growth chamber for cyanobacteria and an electron harvester. Inside the transparent PMFC, the cyanobacteria grow in direct contact with a conductive surface, called the anode.

When exposed to light cyanobacteria were found to produce an electrical current, where the electrons are moving directly from the cyanobacteria to the anode.

"This study expands our knowledge about possible mechanisms for harnessing solar energy. In the future, the newly discovered physiological activity of cyanobacteria could be utilized for generating green electricity in a fully self-sustainable, CO2-free manner in the absence of any additional organic material," says Baskakov.


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Double Bonus: Bacteria Eat Pollution, Generate Electricity
By LiveScience Staff

Scientists have long studied bacteria that can clean up toxic waste by eating it. Other bacteria have been employed to produce electricity.

Now scientists have found a two-for-one deal in bacteria that will eat toxic chemicals 24/7 and make electricity to boot.

"The bacteria are capable of continuously generating electricity at levels that could be used to operate small electronic devices," says Charles Milliken of the Medical University of South Carolina, who conducted the research with colleague Harold May. "As long as the bacteria are fed fuel they are able to produce electricity 24 hours a day."


The findings were to be presented today at the 105th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

The new study involved Desulfitobacteria, already known for their ability to breakdown and detoxify some of the most problematic environmental pollutants, including PCBs and some chemical solvents.

"These bacteria are very diverse in their metabolic capabilities, including the food that they can consume. That means that these bacteria can convert a large number of different food sources into electricity," says Milliken. "The technology could be used to assist in the reclamation of wastewaters, thereby resulting in the removal of waste and generation of electricity."

The bacteria perform their useful tasks while in spore form, a dormant stage of growth that can handle extreme heat, radiation and lack of water -- all useful traits for an organism that might be employed in some of the worst manmade environments.



Double Bonus: Bacteria Eat Pollution, Generate Electricity | LiveScience

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