From Moo to Goo: Methane to Alternative Fuel Source

We’ve heard a lot about the role oil and gas wells play in releasing methane gas into the atmosphere. We have also heard about the methane… — er, “emissions” of the cattle industry. Researchers have been working on ways to not only capture this gas but also convert it into something useful and less polluting.

Now scientists at the Department of Energy‘s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a new system to convert methane into a deep green, energy-rich, gelatin-like substance that can be used as the basis for biofuels and other bioproducts, specialty chemicals — and even feed for cows that create the gas in the first place.

“We take a waste product that is normally an expense and upgrade it to microbial biomass which can be used to make fuel, fertilizer, animal feed, chemicals and other products,” said Hans Bernstein, author of a recent paper in Bioresource Technology.

Methane is an unavoidable byproduct of our lifestyle. Manure from dairy cows, cattle and other livestock that provide us food often breaks down into methane. Drilling processes used to obtain the oil and natural gas we use to drive our cars and trucks or heat our homes often vent or burn off excess methane to the atmosphere, wasting an important energy resource.

A tale of two microbes

PNNL scientists approached the problem by getting two very different micro-organisms to live together in harmony...

To see the full article and to find out the "secret sauce" (yech!) that makes the pre-biofuel solid, visit Cleantech Concepts.

Tom Breunig is publisher at Cleantech Concepts, an online magazine and market research firm tracking cleantech R&D.