What is the Powerful Ideas Bacteria Clean sewage and create electricity?
his occasional series looks at powerful ideas – some existing, some futuristic – for fueling and electrifying modern life. Batteries made with microbes could help generate power by cleaning up organic waste at the same time. Sewage is loaded with energy-rich sugars that researchers have struggled for years to convert into useful power. To do so, investigators have experimented with nature’s experts on breaking down waste – bacteria. “It’s kind of like the movie ‘The Matrix,'” said environmental engineer Bruce Logan at Penn State University. “Instead of wiring people up to generate electricity, we are using bacteria to directly generate electricity.” Scientists have experimented with a variety of bacteria, but one kind that environmental microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his colleagues have focused on is Geobacter, which is naturally found in many soils and sediments. “Geobacter grows by breaking down organic materials and transferring electro
Batteries made with microbes could help generate power by cleaning up organic waste at the same time. Sewage is loaded with energy-rich sugars that researchers have struggled for years to convert into useful power. To do so, investigators have experimented with nature’s experts on breaking down waste – bacteria. “It’s kind of like the movie ‘The Matrix,'” said environmental engineer Bruce Logan at Penn State University. “Instead of wiring people up to generate electricity, we are using bacteria to directly generate electricity.” Scientists have experimented with a variety of bacteria, but one kind that environmental microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his colleagues have focused on is Geobacter, which is naturally found in many soils and sediments. “Geobacter grows by breaking down organic materials and transferring electrons pretty much onto anything that looks like iron,” he said. “It’s up in the top of the list in terms of generating high po
his occasional series looks at powerful ideas – some existing, some futuristic – for fueling and electrifying modern life. Batteries made with microbes could help generate power by cleaning up organic waste at the same time. Sewage is loaded with energy-rich sugars that researchers have struggled for years to convert into useful power. To do so, investigators have experimented with nature’s experts on breaking down waste – bacteria. “It’s kind of like the movie ‘The Matrix,'” said environmental engineer Bruce Logan at Penn State University. “Instead of wiring people up to generate electricity, we are using bacteria to directly generate electricity.” Scientists have experimented with a variety of bacteria, but one kind that environmental microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his colleagues have focused on is Geobacter, which is naturally found in many soils and sediments. “Geobacter grows by breaking down organic materials and transferring electro
Batteries made with microbes could help generate power by cleaning up organic waste at the same time. Sewage is loaded with energy-rich sugars that researchers have struggled for years to convert into useful power. To do so, investigators have experimented with nature’s experts on breaking down waste – bacteria. “It’s kind of like the movie ‘The Matrix,'” said environmental engineer Bruce Logan at Penn State University. “Instead of wiring people up to generate electricity, we are using bacteria to directly generate electricity.” Scientists have experimented with a variety of bacteria, but one kind that environmental microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his colleagues have focused on is Geobacter, which is naturally found in many soils and sediments. “Geobacter grows by breaking down organic materials and transferring electrons pretty much onto anything that looks like iron,” he said. “It’s up in the top of the list in terms of generating high po
