Methane- Eating Microbes

In a recent article published by Science Daily, the efforts of a group of scientists concerning the use of microbes in the methane-reduction process were explained. Methane is a gas found on Earth that can be converted to energy and carbon dioxide. The organisms that convert this methane gas are called "microbes" and the process in which conversion occurs is known as methane-reduction. While this process is beneficial because it creates energy, it is also advantageous because if methane gases aren't converted they can seep into the atmosphere and begin destroying the ozone layer. Thus, scientists have been searching for microbes that can use chemical compounds to convert the methane to create energy, and don't have a harmful byproduct. The most common microbes previously used are found in marine sediments and use sulfates to convert methane to energy. Scientists have been searching for similar microbes and eventually discovered microbes found in freshwater that use nitrogen reduction. However, the newest breakthrough occurred just this year as a team of researchers found microbes that can use iron and manganese compounds to convert the methane. While this was an exciting discovery for science, the microbes that used iron and manganese to reduce methane were still not as effective as the sulfate reducers. This discovery is important to chemistry because it has led the pavement for future work in finding more microbes that "consume" methane.

Posted by Rachel Reed