Weird Science! This Bacteria-Powered Battery Eats Up Methane to Spit Out Electricity
When discussing climate change, carbon dioxide sucks up a lot of the air, so to speak. Less attention is spent on methane, which accounts for 20 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions but is 80 times more powerful at trapping heat.
You’ve probably already heard that cow farts are a big contributor of atmospheric methane (220 pounds every year!), but rotting organics and natural gas can also expel methane into the air. Slashing emissions involves decreasing our dependence on natural gas, recycling and composting trash, and getting cows to fart less. But a new, unique method may convert methane into a usable energy source with the help of a microscopic friend: bacteria.
On Tuesday, a team of researchers at Radboud University in the Netherlands published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology where they constructed a battery consisting of methane-munching bacteria that convert the gas into electricity.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here