Indian experts find bacteria to beat global heat (produces calcium carbonate from CO2)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Bacteria-to-beat-global-heat/articleshow/4134025.cms

Indian experts find bacteria to beat global heat

16 Feb 2009, 0507 hrs IST, Rajiv Mani , TNN

ALLAHABAD: In a major breakthrough that could help in the fight against global warming, a team of five Indian scientists from four institutes of the country have discovered a naturally occurring bacteria which converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into a compound found in limestone and chalk.

When used as an enzyme — biomolecules that speed up a chemical reaction — the bacteria has been found to transform CO2 into calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which can fetch minerals of economic value, said Dr Anjana Sharma from the biosciences department of RD University, Jabalpur, who was part of the Rs 98.6 lakh project sponsored by the department of biotechnology (DBT) under the Union science and technology ministry.

CO2 is a greenhouse gas produced in the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities. The rising emissions of CO2 in the atmosphere is chiefly responsible for global warming. Reducing CO2 levels is the single most important strategy to fight global warming and the resulting effects of climate change.

"The enzyme can be put to work in any situation, like in a chamber fitted inside a factory chimney through which CO2 would pass before being emitted into the atmosphere, and it would convert the greenhouse gas into calcium carbonate,’’ Dr Sadhana Rayalu, the project coordinator who is from the National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur, told TOI on phone from Nagpur.

…

[Barrett808]

1. This is potentially very cool

Let's hope it scales.

[DCKit]

2. I wonder where the calcium comes from. Magic?

If it's true, it's bigger than most people would know. CO2 is already acidifying the oceans and could be a problem - even extinction - for every critter with a shell or skeleton.

[drm604]

3. That's an excellent question.

How is commercial calcium normally obtained and how much CO2 is released during it's production?

I'm guessing that it's obtained from naturally occurring calcium carbonate. If so, then breaking down calcium carbonate might produce CO2 and negate the benefits of this process.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than me can answer this.

[Nihil]

7. I'd guess it's the sort of magic that usually accompanies these "gee-whiz" announcements ...

Pick from the list:
1) Quicklime (i.e., the CO2 in existing natural CaCO3 has been baked out);
2) Some obscure Ca-rich mineral that is only available in tiny quantities;
3) From the shop (i.e., "We didn't figure that part into the project").

All those funds being wasted on the search for their Holy Grail: a way to
allow the existing wasteful situation to continue.

:argh:

[truedelphi]

4. Sounds great. n/t

[progressoid]

5. Calcium carbonate huh. Guess we'll have a lot of antacid then.

[IndyOp]

6. Clams, some types of plankton and oysters need calcium carbonate to form their shells.

The big, not well told, story of global warming is how it is making the oceans acidic and how that could potentially lead to mass extinctions of key organisms in the ocean foodchain.

The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media
http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2008/06/covering-ocean-acidification-chemistry-and-considerations/