Well, it's something.

From Green Car Congress:

The researchers found that Archaea, using about the same electrical input, could use the current to convert carbon dioxide and water to methane without any organic material, bacteria or hydrogen usually found in microbial electrolysis cells.

“We have a microbe that is self perpetuating that can accept electrons directly, and use them to create methane.”
—Bruce Logan

This is a long way from a "solution" to the developing fuel crisis.  It's barely even a step.  However, it's a development that is bound to be crucial in retrospect.

Let's recognize this for what it is:  a way to link inorganic electric generation to organic carbon fixation.  If this can be done on a large scale, a great many problems considered intractable can be handled.  We can breathe a little bit easier.

  ¶ 4/01/2009 01:11:00 AM