Can bacteria make wind energy more reliable?

Could these be the gas and oil fields of the future?  (credit: phault)

One of the biggest problems with wind energy is that it is unreliable. Wind blows when it wants to and not when we need the electricity that can be made from it. This means you need overcapacity in other energy productions plants to make up for the short-fall and that is expensive. could a team of microbiologists from Stanford and Pennsylvania State universities have a solution?

The team is raising microbes that have the amazing ability to convert electricity to methane gas. If the lab experiments can be replicated on an industrial scale then the problem of storing the power generated by wind turbines for later use could be solved. 

It is almost impossible to store electricity at the scale needed to be able to supply the national network so electricity generated by wind turbines at times of low demand is not of much use. If it’s possible to convert it to methane gas then it can easily be stored and used later. 

Corn ethanol, for example, requires acres of cropland, as well as fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and fermentation. Methanogens are much more efficient, because they metabolize methane in just a few quick steps.

The scientists’ goal is to create large microbial factories made up of these methanogens that will transform clean electricity from solar, wind or nuclear power into renewable and pure methane gas and other valuable chemical compounds for industry.

“Most of today’s methane is derived from natural gas, a fossil fuel,” said Alfred Spormann, a professor of chemical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. “And many important organic molecules used in industry are made from petroleum. Our microbial approach would eliminate the need for using these fossil resources.

“The whole microbial process is carbon neutral,” he explained. “All of the CO₂ released during combustion is derived from the atmosphere, and all of the electrical energy comes from renewables or nuclear power, which are also CO₂-free.“