The Role of Methanogen in Fossil Fuel

Ecological Origins

• For production, methanogens need conditions where decay and chemical breakdown occur. Such conditions include the digestive systems of humans and animals, with the highest concentrations processed in domestic herbivores, such as horses and cows. Other sources of organic matter for processing include marshlands, deep water sediments, bogs, decayed plant and tree remains, and raw or untreated sewage, which all contain heterotrophic bacteria. This bacteria releases compounds, such as acidic vinegar and hydrogen, when it comes into contact with the organic matter. The compounds furnish a substrate for the production of methanogens.

Methanogen Process

• Methanogens cannot function in an environment with oxygen. Their chemical process must be confined to begin metabolizing. They use hydrogen as an energy source, then proliferate and grow by ingesting carbon dioxide in carbon form. While producing cell material from processing hydrogen and carbon dioxide, they give off methane as a byproduct. The process generates its own energy for the manufacturing process.

Significance

• Methane-produced methanogen is very plentiful in the environment, and its role in creating most of the natural gas and fossil fuels found on the planet is a direct result of its long-term metabolism in favorable environments. With the increase of deforestation that has occurred to create more pasture for domestic animals, one result has been an increase in methane, which can release to the atmosphere and foster harmful increases in the greenhouse effect. But trapped in deep sediments, pure methane gas can be safely farmed and produced, serving as an important fossil fuel.

Methanogen Methane as a Fossil Fuel

• It is possible that methane could become a major energy source for the United States and other countries. Improperly manufactured and used, it could also become a liability because it is 20 times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the U.S. has more than 200 times the natural reserves in the form of gas hydrates, with over 320,000 trillion cubic feet. By recovering only 1 percent of the methane hydrates from the vast seafloor beds, the U.S. would double its natural gas supply base.