A new source of gas: farting bacteria.

2009-04-06 01:03:43

#1

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6977|Canberra, AUS

I've heard a lot, but this one takes the cake for... inventiveness.

Bacteria that can convert electricity into methane could help solve one of the biggest problems with renewable energy – its unreliability compared to the steady output of polluting fossil-fuel power stations.

Wind power is capricious, while solar cell output drops off at night or on cloudy days. That fluctuating output poses big problems for electricity grids that rely on steady levels throughout the day. Proposals to deal with the ups and downs of green power supply have included better batteries or redesigning the electricity grid.

An intriguing new idea involves "feeding" surplus power to bacteria instead, which combine it with carbon dioxide to create methane. That could then be stored and burned when needed. The method is sustainable too, as the carbon is taken from the atmosphere, not released from long-term storage in oil or coal.

Well? Would it work? I mean, it has the advantage of not needing any special rare metals or being weather-dependant - just hook a vat full of 'em up to the wall and collect the 'waste' (yes, it's not that simple, but you get my drift)

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2009-04-06 01:06:37

#2

Pochsy: Artifice of Eternity; +702|5846|Toronto

Wait, what? Turn electricity we need into methane?

The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families

2009-04-06 01:08:58

#3

Fenris_GreyClaw: Real Хорошо; +826|6822|Adelaide, South Australia

Pochsy wrote:
Wait, what? Turn electricity we need into methane?

Turn the EXTRA electricity we don't need YET into methane so it can be used when we DO need it.

2009-04-06 01:13:50

#4

Pochsy: Artifice of Eternity; +702|5846|Toronto

Fenris_GreyClaw wrote:
Pochsy wrote:
Wait, what? Turn electricity we need into methane?
Turn the EXTRA electricity we don't need YET into methane so it can be used when we DO need it.

I thought the world wasn't doing so hot on the electricity side of things either. I hear the government warning us about it all the time.

The shape of an eye in front of the ocean, digging for stones and throwing them against its window pane. Take it down dreamer, take it down deep. - Other Families

2009-04-06 01:38:35

#5

some_random_panda: Flamesuit essential; +454|6693

All they're saying is that our current batteries suck, so they're making other sorts of batteries.

2009-04-06 02:56:55

#6

FEOS: Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate; +1,182|6713|'Murka

Would be interesting to see the source article. On the surface, electrifying bacteria to make them fart in order to store said electricity seems counter-intuitive. One would think the energy lost in the multiple conversions would make it undesirable.

Now, harvesting methane from bacteria for energy is a proven thing...I believe Subaru powers an entire plant in the US using that method.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular

2009-04-06 03:19:08

#7

Dilbert_X: The X stands for; +1,817|6408|eXtreme to the maX

Would make more sense to convert electricity into Hydrogen than Methane.
Also bacteria don't usually need much help to produce methane.

Fuck Israel

2009-04-07 00:36:19

#8

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6977|Canberra, AUS

FEOS wrote:
Would be interesting to see the source article. On the surface, electrifying bacteria to make them fart in order to store said electricity seems counter-intuitive. One would think the energy lost in the multiple conversions would make it undesirable.

Now, harvesting methane from bacteria for energy is a proven thing...I believe Subaru powers an entire plant in the US using that method.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 … iogas.html
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es803531g

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2009-04-07 01:07:13

#9

NooBesT: Pizzahitler; +873|6771

Dilbert_X wrote:
Would make more sense to convert electricity into Hydrogen than Methane.
Also bacteria don't usually need much help to produce methane.

Of course it would make more sense, but converting energy into matter isn't that simple.

2009-04-07 01:15:13

#10

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6977|Canberra, AUS

Dilbert_X wrote:
Would make more sense to convert electricity into Hydrogen than Methane.
Also bacteria don't usually need much help to produce methane.

The amount of energy needed to create pure hydrogen is... large, to say the least.

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2009-04-07 01:17:12

#11

Jenspm: penis; +1,716|7035|St. Andrews / Oslo

NooBesT wrote:
Dilbert_X wrote:
Would make more sense to convert electricity into Hydrogen than Methane.
Also bacteria don't usually need much help to produce methane.
Of course it would make more sense, but converting energy into matter isn't that simple.

pff, e=mc², lez do it.

https://static.bf2s.com/files/user/26774/flickricon.png

2009-04-07 01:36:46

#12

Flecco: iPod is broken.; +1,048|6967|NT, like Mick Dundee

Jenspm wrote:
NooBesT wrote:
Dilbert_X wrote:
Would make more sense to convert electricity into Hydrogen than Methane.
Also bacteria don't usually need much help to produce methane.
Of course it would make more sense, but converting energy into matter isn't that simple.
pff, e=mc², lez do it.

My chair contains more potential energy than your entire electrical grid.

Last edited by Flecco (2009-04-07 01:37:47)

Whoa... Can't believe these forums are still kicking.

2009-04-07 03:36:51

#13

Spark: liquid fluoride thorium reactor; +874|6977|Canberra, AUS

FEOS wrote:
Would be interesting to see the source article. On the surface, electrifying bacteria to make them fart in order to store said electricity seems counter-intuitive. One would think the energy lost in the multiple conversions would make it undesirable.

Now, harvesting methane from bacteria for energy is a proven thing...I believe Subaru powers an entire plant in the US using that method.

Fair point, but you can always rely on the evolution-tested processes of biology to do things far, far more efficiently than we could ever come up with.

The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
^{~ Richard Feynman}

2009-04-07 04:00:26

#14

FEOS: Bellicose Yankee Air Pirate; +1,182|6713|'Murka

Spark wrote:
FEOS wrote:
Would be interesting to see the source article. On the surface, electrifying bacteria to make them fart in order to store said electricity seems counter-intuitive. One would think the energy lost in the multiple conversions would make it undesirable.

Now, harvesting methane from bacteria for energy is a proven thing...I believe Subaru powers an entire plant in the US using that method.
Fair point, but you can always rely on the evolution-tested processes of biology to do things far, far more efficiently than we could ever come up with.

Apparently. 80% efficiency in energy conversion? That's fucking unheard of, but makes sense when looking at the processes used by the bacteria. No mechanical loss, just some sub-cellular organic molecular conversion to account for the 20% drop.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular

2009-04-07 04:42:46

#15

kylef: Gone; +1,352|6796|N. Ireland

Whatever happened to those bugs that ate garbage and excreted oil? That was cool.

2009-04-07 21:58:52

#16

BVC: Member; +325|6998

OTOH, we could also start using methan-powered cars more often..isn't the stuff equivilant to 120 octane? Imagine that in your 5.7L V8 XB Falcon!

BF2S Forums A new source of gas: farting bacteria.

Pochsy wrote:

Fenris_GreyClaw wrote:

Pochsy wrote:

FEOS wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

NooBesT wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

Jenspm wrote:

NooBesT wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

FEOS wrote:

Spark wrote:

FEOS wrote:

Board footer