Electricity-eating bacteria in marine sediments may play role in combating climate change
Scientists isolated new strains of a common marine bacteria from the Trunk River estuary in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. New research shows how these bacteria may have a role in locking away climate-warming carbon dioxide. (Photo: Sandra Brosnahan, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center)
May 31, 2021 SHARE
Global oceans absorb about 25% of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. Electricity-eating bacteria known as photoferrotrophs could provide a boost to this essential process, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
Scientists led by Arpita Bose, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, found that bacteria found in brackish sediments can “eat” electricity and, in the process, absorb and lock away climate-warming carbon dioxide. This unusual skill was previously thought to be almost exclusive to freshwate