Microbial Biotechnology 2020; microbiology of fossil fuel resources

Abstract

SummaryThis roadmap examines the future of microbiology research and technology in fossil fuel energy recovery. Globally, the human population will be reliant on fossil fuels for energy and chemical feedstocks for at least the medium term. Microbiology is already important in many areas relevant to both upstream and downstream activities in the oil industry. However, the discipline has struggled for recognition in a world dominated by geophysicists and engineers despite widely known but still poorly understood microbially mediated processes e.g. reservoir biodegradation, reservoir souring and control, microbial enhanced oil recovery. The role of microbiology is even less understood in developing industries such as shale gas recovery by fracking or carbon capture by geological storage. In the future, innovative biotechnologies may offer new routes to reduced emissions pathways especially when applied to the vast unconventional heavy oil resources formed, paradoxically, from microbial activities in the geological past. However, despite this potential, recent low oil prices may make industry funding hard to come by and recruitment of microbiologists by the oil and gas industry may not be a high priority. With regards to public funded research and the imperative for cheap secure energy for economic growth in a growing world population, there are signs of inherent conflicts between policies aimed at a low carbon future using renewable technologies and policies which encourage technologies which maximize recovery from our conventional and unconventional fossil fuel assets.

Metabolic Exchange with Non-Alkane-Consuming Pseudomonas stutzeri SLG510A3-8 Improves n -Alkane Biodegradation by the Alkane Degrader Dietzia sp. Strain DQ12-45-1b

“…Our study improves the current understanding of microbial interactions. Because "assistant" microbes showed importance in communities in addition to the functional microbes, our findings also B ioremediation of petroleum-contaminated environments and microbially enhanced oil recovery are two environment-friendly, cost-effective techniques to solve serious oil-related problems in current society (1,2). Clearly, these two biotechniques have opposite aims: one for oil removal and the other for oil recovery.…”

How to access and exploit natural resources sustainably: petroleum biotechnology

“…Relatively, little is known about the role of microbiology in the fracking industry. Native microbial communities are unlikely to exist in the non‐fractured matrix of shales (Head and Gray, ); however, it is possible that native species inhabit the natural fractures. Several studies have observed that hydraulic fracturing creates favourable conditions for microbial growth in shales, despite the use of biocides.…”

“…The study subsequently investigated biocides to inhibit the growth and metabolic activity of the microorganisms, in order to mitigate the deleterious effects of the sulfide (Liang et al ., ). Investigations into microbe‐mineral interactions within the fractures may be a future strategy to manipulate the porosity and permeability of the shale matrix through microbially mediated mineral precipitation or dissolution as a means to exploit the shale gas resource (Head and Gray, ).…”

Anaerobic microbial communities and their potential for bioenergy production in heavily biodegraded petroleum reservoirs

“…Several technologies have been considered and are in place to improve energy production from heavy oil and oil sands (Head and Gray, 2016). The application of such technologies at industrial scale must consider feasibility, scale-up, economic costs and environmental costs.…”

“…Gieg et al, 2008;Xia et al, 2016), used for steam generation for recovery of oil sands in deeper reservoirs (Gates and Larter, 2014), or retained and used as a greener fuel, given that methane combustion has a lower carbon footprint per unit energy than oil and coal (Head et al, 2014). Furthermore, since organic carbon degradation coupled to methanogenesis produces CO 2 as well as CH 4 , net carbon emissions from crude oil use can also be reduced by in situ oil-to-gas production, provided only methane is recovered and CO 2 remains sequestered in the subsurface, for example by maintaining slightly alkaline conditions (Head and Gray, 2016).…”