Not Just Bread and Beer: Microbes Can Ferment Carbon Dioxide To Make Fuel



To make a loaf of bread that rises nicely, bakers ferment the dough. Similar to this, brewers ferment wheat and barley to produce smooth, malty beer. Some microorganisms can even produce more, making them the best bakers and brewers in nature. In reality, certain types of bacteria use the fermentation process to create their own preferred nutrients from carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. This may be used to energise the planet.

Scientists who research the subtle and intricate chemical processes in bacteria are aware of this remarkable ability—fermenting CO2 into chemical energy.

One of them is Wei Xiong, a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who claims that gas-fermenting bacteria can teach us how to convert waste gases like CO2 into sustainable fuels.

"As CO2 is the primary heat-trapping (greenhouse) gas in the atmosphere, CO2 removal and conversion are of global concern. The key is pathways for CO2 fixation, according to Xiong. We are particularly interested in developing novel pathways for CO2 fixation in bacteria so that they can produce important biofuel precursors like acetyl-CoA.

Fatty acids, isopropanol, and butanol are only a few of the fuel compounds that are made primarily from acetyl-CoA. And Xiong and his colleagues have demonstrated how to enhance the generation of the fuel precursor utilizing a unique pathway in gas-fermenting bacteria in a work that was just published in the journal Nature Synthesis.

By doing this, they increase the likelihood that biological techniques will be used on an industrial scale to capture and transform CO2.

Accounting for carbon simply is C1 + C1 = C2.

The Wood-Ljungdahl route is the naturally occurring chain of processes that bacteria use to ferment gases. After its 1980s discoverers, professors Harland G. Wood and Lars G. Ljungdahl, this was given their names. In layman's words, enzymes use the electrical energy from surrounding hydrogen or carbon monoxide gas to remove the carbon from CO2. They next attach two of these one-carbon atoms (C1) to a bigger molecule called coenzyme A that is already present in the bacterium (CoA). This assistance molecule is given two carbon handles (C2) to make them more accessible for subsequent processes.

The end outcome? Acetyl-CoA, a more energetic and carbon-dense molecule, aids in the development of the bacteria. It serves as a useful precursor for producing lucrative biofuels that are good to the environment.

The Wood-Ljungdahl method might not be sufficient for industrial application, regardless how ingenious it is. Additionally, its seemingly straightforward math (C1 + C1 = C2) is actually the result of a bewildering array of chemical processes.

Because of the complexity of the enzymes, "engineering" this pathway to increase efficiency is difficult, according to Xiong.

Instead of directly enhancing the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, the researchers set out to imagine a brand-new process for producing acetyl-CoA. The team created a new CO2-fixing pathway in a species of gas-fermenting bacteria called Clostridium ljungdahlii using a computer model created by NREL called PathParser and cutting-edge genetic tools.

But to get there, it uses two concurrent processes, which function as the two wheels of a carbon-fixing bicycle, capturing CO2, transforming it via a series of chemical gears, and then rerouting it to advance acetyl-CoA synthesis (illustrated in the figure at the top of the page). The mechanism might supplement the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway to more effectively produce acetyl-CoA if given to gas-fermenting bacteria.

There is now no scarcity of waste gases, and this is expected to hold true for a very long time. Heavy industry releases millions of tons of CO2 each year as a consequence of processing biofuels, producing steel, or mixing concrete. Technology for catching, storing, or even utilising CO2 is being researched by scientists long before it enters the atmosphere.

Scientists are looking for novel ways to transform CO2 into fuels and chemicals in the context of global warming and climate change, according to Xiong. Gas-fermenting bacteria are a carbon-negative method of supplying our energy needs and satisfying environmental concerns.

Gas-fermenting bacteria, which have easily fixed CO2 for millions of years, are the ideal teachers.

The Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office both contributed to the funding of this study.

By NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY 

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