An Answer to the World's Energy Problems?

ByABC News
November 30, 2006, 4:54 PM

Dec. 1, 2006 — -- The smallest creatures on the planet may help solve one of the world's biggest problems, according to a new report from a distinguished panel of scientists.

Microorganisms, better known as bacteria, could be used to convert various materials into fuel to run our cars, heat to warm our homes, and even electricity to power our toys.

Imagine that.

A cell phone that never loses power because its "battery" consists of millions of tiny bugs chomping on lunch, cranking out electrons for a continuous flow of electrical current.

Sound far-fetched? You bet.

Impossible? It's already being done, on a very small scale. And much research will have to be done if this bold concept is to become a reality.

But experts convened by the American Academy of Microbiology concluded that given enough time, and a little luck, microorganisms could be part of the key to our energy future.

The panel met in San Francisco last March and has just released a report, Microbial Energy Conversion, claiming that the concept is realistic.

The idea may sound like science fiction, but that's the way many fuels are already produced by nature.

The next time you pass a landfill, take a deep breath. The stench you smell is from the production of methane by microorganisms that alter the chemical nature of the trash they eat, thus emitting gas that can be used for a wide variety of purposes.

So the microbiologists are suggesting that we simply find ways to accelerate that process and generate new sources of energy ranging from petroleum substitutes to hydrogen.

The latter, by the way, would require only water and sunlight and the right bacteria, but the process is tricky.

Byproducts are both hydrogen and oxygen, and when those two gases are combined, they explode with enormous power.

The main engine on the space shuttle is powered by hydrogen and oxygen.

So there's a few problems with this one, but that doesn't mean it's impractical.

The report points out that perhaps the right bacteria might produce oxygen and hydrogen at different times, or in separate locations, thus avoiding catastrophe.