Scientists trick iron-eating bacteria into breathing electrons instead

[Picard]

http://phys.org/news/2013-01-scientists-iron-eating-bacteria-electrons.html

The method, called electrochemical cultivation, supplies these bacteria with a steady supply of electrons that the bacteria use to respire, or "breathe". It opens the possibility that one day electricity generated from renewable sources like wind or solar could be funneled to iron oxidizing bacteria that combine it with carbon dioxide to create biofuels, capturing the energy as a useful, storable substance.

"Bacteria are experts at the capture of carbon dioxide. They build cells and compounds" with the carbon, he says. They might one day be exploited as microscopic energy packagers: bacteria like M. ferrooxydans could capture electricity from an electrode, combine it with carbon dioxide, and package it as a carbon-rich compound we could use as fuel. This would take the energy in electricity, which is ephemeral, and convert it into a tangible product that could be stored in a tank. But that kind of work is a long way off, cautions Bond.

"If there are 100 steps to making this work – this is step one," he says.

Interesting.

 

[Swa]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1651894/
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