This document discusses how microbes can help generate alternative energy. It describes several ways microbes are used to produce biofuels like ethanol, butanol, biogas, biomethane, hydrogen, and biodiesel. Microbes can ferment plant biomass to produce ethanol, or be engineered to produce butanol as a higher energy alternative to gasoline. Anaerobic digestion of organic waste by microbes produces biogas which can be upgraded to biomethane. Some microbes can produce hydrogen through biological processes. Microbes are also used to produce biodiesel through microbial lipids. Finally, microbial fuel cells generate electricity directly from organic compounds using bacteria.

1. THE ROLE OF MICROBES
IN ALTERNATE ENERGY
GENERATION
BY- SONALI VERMA
M.Sc. ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT
GGSIP UNIVERSITY

2. OBJECTIVES
• CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES
• WHY WE NEED ALTERNATE
ENERGY ?
• HOW MICROBES ARE HELPING ?
• SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FROM
MICROBES

3. CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCES
• The energy sources that once exhausted, do not
replenish themselves within a specific period are
called conventional or non-renewable energy
sources like coal, gas, and oil.
• For a long time, these energy sources have been
used extensively to meet the energy demands.
• Conventional energy sources are finite but still hold
the majority of the energy market.

4. WHY WE NEED ALTERNATE ENERGY ?
• Fast depletion of fossil fuels
• Increase in population
• Increase in fuel price
• Geopolitical unrest
• Negative environmental impact of
conventional energy
• Sustainable, and renewable energy is
essential

5. • The greenhouse gases (GHG), basically CO2
discharged chiefly because of transportation, are
expected to reach 2.7 billion tons by 2030.
• The economy of most developed and developing
countries is reliant, as it were, on oil and its
subsidiaries, and thus, any disturbance in the oil
supply either due to geopolitical unrest or
otherwise will have a huge impact not only on
the economy but also in national security
• The oil price volatility and uncertainty in
petroleum product supply due to colossal
uprisings in the Arab world.

6. • The global energy utilization is anticipated to
increase by approximately 36% by the year
2030.
• In the last few decades, energy utilization has
expanded exponentially worldwide.
• The United States with only 4.5% of the total
populace is responsible for about 25% of
worldwide energy utilization and 25% of
worldwide CO2 emissions.

7. SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FROM
MICROBES
• Alcohols as Biofuels
• Ethanol
• Butanol
• Methane
• Hydrogen
• Biodiesel/Microbial Lipids
• Microbial Fuel Cells

8. ETHANOL
• Most of the fuel ethanol produced around the world is made
by fermenting the sugar in the starches of grains such as
corn, sorghum, and barley, and the sugar in sugar cane and
sugar beets.
• Denaturants are added to ethanol to make fuel ethanol
undrinkable.
• There are other potential sources of ethanol other than
fermentation of grain starch and sugars. Researchers have
experimented with feedstock including agriculture residues
such as corn and rice stalks, fast-growing poplar and willow
trees, grasses such as switchgrass that can produce two
harvests a year for many years without annual replanting,
and biomass in municipal solid waste.

9. • Trees and grasses require less fuel, fertilizers, and water to grow
than grains do, and they can be grown on lands that are not
suitable for growing food crops. Ethanol made from these
sources is called cellulosic ethanol and is considered
an advanced biofuel.
• However, despite the technical potential for cellulosic ethanol
production from those sources, economical production has been
difficult to achieve.
• Brazil—the world's second-largest consumer of fuel ethanol
after United States—uses sugar cane to produce ethanol, which
qualifies as an advanced biofuel for use in the United States
under the RFS.

10. Cassava, corn,
sweet potato
Pretreatment &
milling
Liquefaction + α
amylase
enzymes
Saccharification
+ glucoamylase
enzyme
Sugar Fermentation
Distillation Ethanol
100°𝐶, 2ℎ𝑟𝑠
60°𝐶, 15 − 24ℎ𝑟𝑠 30°𝐶, 36 − 48ℎ𝑟𝑠

11. BUTANOL
• Butanol, a 4-carbon alcohol (butyl alcohol), is
produced from the same feedstock as ethanol,
including corn grain and other biomass.
• The term Biobutanol refers to Butanol made from
biomass feedstock.
• The benefits of biobutanol, when compared with
ethanol, are that biobutanol is immiscible in water, has
a higher energy content, and has a lower Reid vapour
pressure.
• Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, corn grain
Butanol meets the renewable fuel 20% greenhouse
gas emission reduction threshold.

12. BENEFITS
The benefits of biobutanol include:
Higher energy content—Biobutanol's energy content is
relatively high among gasoline alternatives. However,
biobutanol's energy density is 10%–20% lower than
gasoline's energy density.
Lower Reid vapour pressure—When compared with
ethanol, biobutanol has a lower vapour pressure, which
means lower volatility and evaporative emissions.

13. • Increased energy security—Biobutanol can be
produced domestically from a variety of feedstock,
while creating jobs.
• Fewer emissions—Fewer emissions are generated
with the use of biobutanol compared with petroleum
fuels. Carbon dioxide captured by growing feedstock
reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions by balancing
carbon dioxide released from burning biobutanol.
• More transport options—Biobutanol is immiscible
with water, meaning that it may be able to be
transported in pipelines to reduce transport costs.

14. BIOGAS
Biogas is a mixture of methane, CO2 and small quantities
of other gases produced by anaerobic digestion of
organic matter in an oxygen-free environment. The
precise composition of biogas depends on the type of
feedstock and the production pathway.
These include the following main technologies:
1. Bio digester
2. Landfill gas recovery system
3. Wastewater treatment plants

15. • Bio digesters: These are airtight systems (e.g. containers or
tanks) in which organic material, diluted in water, is broken
down by naturally occurring micro-organisms.
Contaminants and moisture are usually removed prior to
use of the biogas.
• Landfill gas recovery systems: The decomposition of
municipal solid waste (MSW) under anaerobic conditions at
landfill sites produces biogas. This can be captured using
pipes and extraction wells along with compressors to
induce flow to a central collection point.
• Wastewater treatment plants: These plants can be
equipped to recover organic matter, solids, and nutrients
such as nitrogen and phosphorus from sewage sludge. With
further treatment, the sewage sludge can be used as an
input to produce biogas in an anaerobic digester.

16. The methane content of biogas typically ranges
from 45% to 75% by volume, with most of the
remainder being CO2. This variation means that
the energy content of biogas can vary; the lower
heating value (LHV) is between 16 mega joules
per cubic metre (MJ/m3) and 28 MJ/m3. Biogas
can be used directly to produce electricity and
heat or as an energy source for cooking.

17. BIOMETHANE
Bio methane (also known as “renewable natural
gas”) is a near-pure source of methane produced
either by “upgrading” biogas (a process that removes
any CO2 and other contaminants present in the
biogas) or through the gasification of solid biomass
followed by methanation:
1. Upgrading biogas
2. Thermal gasification of solid biomass followed by
methanation

18. • Upgrading biogas: This accounts for around
90% of total biomethane produced worldwide
today. Upgrading technologies make use of
the different properties of the various gases
contained within biogas to separate them,
with water scrubbing and membrane
separation accounting for almost 60% of
biomethane production globally today.

19. Thermal gasification of solid biomass followed by
methanation
1. Woody biomass is first broken down at high temperature
(between 700-800°C) and high pressure in a low-oxygen
environment.
2. Under these conditions, the biomass is converted into a
mixture of gases, mainly carbon monoxide, hydrogen and
methane (sometimes collectively called syngas).
3. To produce a pure stream of biomethane, this syngas is
cleaned to remove any acidic and corrosive components.
4. The methanation process then uses a catalyst to promote
a reaction between the hydrogen and carbon monoxide or
CO2 to produce methane.
5. Any remaining CO2 or water is removed at the end of this
process.

20. Biomethane has an LHV of around 36 MJ/m3. It is
indistinguishable from natural gas and so can be
used without the need for any changes in
transmission and distribution infrastructure or
end-user equipment, and is fully compatible for
use in natural gas vehicles

21. HYDROGEN
• Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a
fuel cell, produces only water.
• Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of domestic
resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power,
biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.
• These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for
transportation and electricity generation applications.
• Hydrogen is an energy carrier that can be used to
store, move, and deliver energy produced from other
sources.

22. Today, hydrogen fuel can be produced through several
methods. The most common methods today are natural
gas reforming (a thermal process), and electrolysis. Other
methods include solar-driven and biological processes.
BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES
Biological processes use microbes such as bacteria and
microalgae and can produce hydrogen through biological
reactions. In microbial biomass conversion, the microbes
break down organic matter like biomass or wastewater to
produce hydrogen, while in photo biological processes
the microbes use sunlight as the energy source.

23. BIODIESEL
• Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils, yellow grease,
used cooking oils, or animal fats.
• The fuel is produced by trans-esterification—a process that
converts fats and oils into biodiesel and glycerine.
• Approximately 100 pounds of oil or fat are reacted with 10
pounds of a short-chain alcohol in the presence of a
catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide [NaOH] or potassium
hydroxide [KOH]) to form 100 pounds of biodiesel and 10
pounds of glycerine (or glycerol).
• Glycerine, a co-product, is a sugar commonly used in the
manufacture of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics

24. ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF
OLEAGINOUS FUNGI
CELL BIOMASS DETERMINATION FOR
FUNGI
DRY THE MYCELIUM
SUBSTRATE UTILIZATION BY FUNGAL
ISOLATE
BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

25. MICROBIAL FUEL CELL (MFC)
• A bio-electrochemical system that converts chemical
energy of organic compounds or renewable energy to
electrical energy or bio-electrical energy through the
microbial catalytic reaction at the anode is called
Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC).
• It is an alternative and attractive technology to
generate electricity from wastewater treatment or
industrial wastes. It uses bacteria to convert organic
matter to electrical energy directly. It is considered a
new method to recover renewable energy

26. • The MFC technology is used to convert chemical
energy to electrical energy from organic wastes or
carbon sources, which are carried out by oxidation
process and electrochemically active bacteria.
• It generates electricity by utilizing electrons produced
from the anaerobic oxidation process of substrates.
• It consists of two chambers, such as anode and
cathode.
• They are separated by a specific membrane called the
exchange membrane.
• The microbes used in the MFC technology are bio-
electrochemically active bacteria.
• The power density generated by MFC is 1kW/m^3 of
reactor volume.

29. STEPS
PROCESSING OF
SUBSTRATE AND MEDIA
STERILIZATION PROCESS
INOCULUM
PREPARATION
INOCULUM OF
PRODUCTION MEDIA
MAINTENANCE OF FERMENTATION
PROCESS
INCUBATION UNDER
CONTROLLED
CONDITION
PRODUCT RECOVERY