A natural tool to tackle oil spills?

In the future, we could be harnessing naturally occurring microbes and fertilizing them to increase their capacity to digest oil. These microbes are found in seawater all over the planet. They naturally occur on microscopic algae. Their numbers are regulated by the amount of their food source and certain nutrients that they need to thrive.

The microbiologists at Bangor University are the first to trial this theory in a systematic experiment, using seawater collected from the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Mediterranean. Their early results are strikingly similar- suggesting that the system could be effective in a wide range of locations.

“The oil spill is an alternative digestible ‘food source’ for these microbes. Although probably present in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, a shortage of other essential nutrients limits their growth in numbers,” explains Christoph Gertler, of the School of Biological Sciences.

“What we have trialled is adding the nutrients these organisms need in the form of a fertilizer, in a containing boom, for example. This enables the microbes to multiply and, in the process, to break down and digest the pollutant,” he adds.

“Initially, we used the heaviest and most complex oil to biodegrade in small scale experiments of 500 mililitres and managed to remove 95% of it simply by applying these bacteria. In a second step, we scaled up the experiment to 500 litres and managed to remove virtually everything with the help of both bacteria and an oil absorbing material. The next step would be to test the method in the field on an actual oil spill as soon as possible.”

Source: A natural tool to tackle oil spills? – physorg

Date:27 May 2010