Production of Specialty Chemicals with Carbon Dioxide Serving as the Carbon Source

Concerns of resource supply and climate change motivate the shift away from fuels and chemicals derived from fossil fuels towards domestic, sustainable production. The inventors’ patented technology presents a new way of doing this, using microorganisms that are able to take in CO2, water, and electricity and synthesize carbonaceous fuels and chemicals, akin to a reverse microbial fuel cell.

In “microbial electrosynthesis,” a term coined by the inventors, an anode and cathode are connected to a source of electrical power and separated by a permeable membrane. Electron-accepting microorganisms are coated on a cathode, where they reduce CO2 to multi-carbon products, while water is oxidized to oxygen at the anode. For example, the production of acetate would proceed as follows:

Anode: 4H₂O --> 8H⁺ + 8e^- + 2O₂

Cathode: 2CO₂ + 8H⁺ + 8e^- --> CH₃COOH + 2H₂O

Overall: 2CO₂ + 2H₂O --> CH₃COOH + 2O₂

In addition to acetate, production of ethanol, butanol, propanol, formate, and 2-oxobutyrate have been demonstrated.

•       Converts waste streams into valuable fuels and chemicals: CO2 is the source of carbon, biofilm may come from sources like wastewater and sludge

•       Electricity may come from a variety of sources, including renewables like solar and wind

•       Can help balance the electrical grid by taking in excess electricity

•      Commodity chemicals and fuels

•      Energy storage

•      Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)

•      Bioremediation

Derek R. Lovley, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Lovley’s lab group has engineered several novel strains of Geobacter species to address a growing demand for alternatives to traditional technologies. A pioneer in his field, Dr. Lovley has collaborated with industry and secured millions of dollars in grants for his research. He has authored more than 400 articles, is cited in tens of thousands of publications, and has received media attention from popular publications like National Geographic and Time. Research interests include in-situ groundwater bioremediation, microbial fuel cells, directed and natural evolution of anaerobic respiration, microbial electrosynthesis, and extracellular electron transfer mechanisms.