Science & Technology: Use of H2S and CO2 from Geothermal Emissions to Make Renewable Fuel

Using hydrogen sulfide and CO2 to drive production of renewable fuels and chemicals (JBEI)

(Courtesy JBEI)

The following article may be of interest to the geothermal industry as some H2S and CO2 is co-produced with geothermal steam.

Berkeley Lab scientists at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have demonstrated a promising biological approach to convert nuisance chemicals in municipal wastewater (sewage) treatment plants into renewable fuels or chemicals.

Hydrogen sulfide (which is responsible for the odor of rotten eggs) is a malodorous and corrosive chemical that is problematic in municipal wastewater treatment plants and is typically removed by relatively expensive chemical treatment.

JBEI scientists have engineered a common soil bacterium, Thiobacillus denitrificans, which naturally consumes hydrogen sulfide and nitrate (another problem chemical), and fixes CO2 (a greenhouse gas), to simultaneously overproduce fatty acids; these can be further converted to biofuels or value-added chemicals.

(Thanks to GRC Member Marcelo Lippmann, Staff Scientist (retired) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the submission.)

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