Scientists used Escherichia coli to generate electricity from sewage: what will it do
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In Switzerland, scientists managed to generate electricity from the dangerous bacteria E-coli (Escherichia coli), which multiplied in dirty water. This discovery could help to use wastewater to generate electricity and also make it easier to clean it. A study by scientists from the Swiss Ecole Ecole Technique de Lausanne (EPFL) was published in the journal Joule, Science Alert reports. Back in 1911, the British mycologist Michael Kresse Potter noticed that beer yeast generates electricity. Now, a team of researchers from the Swiss Ecole Ecole Technique de Lausanne (EPFL) has used one of the most common types of bacteria (Escherichia coli) to generate electricity from brewery wastewater. Read also: Beer was brewed from sewage in California: what does it taste like? Photo: Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Researchers designed different conditions under which bacteria could produce electricity. The team also used a process known as extracellular electron transfer to create special bioelectric microbes. To improve E. coli’s ability to generate electricity, the researchers modified it by borrowing some components from Shewanella oneidensis (a bacteria known for its ability to generate electricity). Thus, scientists doubled the electrical activity of Escherichia coli. Unlike previous methods that required special chemicals to produce electricity, the “improved” E. coli can generate electricity by processing organic waste. “Although there are exotic microbes that naturally generate electricity, they can only do so in the presence of certain chemicals. Escherichia coli can grow in many sources, which has allowed us to generate electricity in a wide range of environments, including wastewater,” explains Sr. author and chemical engineer Ardemis Boghosyan from EPFL. Illustrative photo: Longhua Liao/Getty Images Breweries must treat the water used for washing grain and washing tanks before disposal because it contains a mixture of sugars, starches, alcohols and yeasts that can cause unwanted growth of microorganisms. Previously, science has already studied the use of algae for the treatment of wastewater from breweries. Now scientists suggest that E. coli may help. The team tested their system with E. coli on a sample of wastewater collected from a local brewery in Lausanne. Modified bacteria absorbed waste for 50 hours. At the same time, S. oneidensis, which was used for comparison, could not digest the mixed effluents. “Our bioengineered electric bacteria flourished exponentially, feeding on this waste,” says Boghosyan. So the modified E. coli may be suitable for treating industrial wastewater, even if it will generate electricity more slowly than S. oneidensis, the researchers say. E. coli’s “appetite” for different chemical substrates also means that it can be adapted to many types of waste and raw materials. In any case, the researchers will need to see if their modified E. coli can process industrial volumes of waste. If so, it can help with energy savings. “Instead of wasting energy on processing organic waste, we generate electricity while simultaneously processing organic waste – killing two birds with one stone,” says Boghosyan. We will remind, earlier scientists figured out how to turn plastic into vanillin. Read also: What bacteria live in our home and can they harm us?
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