Microbial carbon cycling under geological CO2 storage conditions: understanding the rules of life in the engineered subsurface

地质二氧化碳储存条件下的微生物碳循环：了解工程地下的生命规则

• 批准号: BB/V00560X/1
• 负责人: Sophie Nixon
• 金额: $ 123.27万
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FV00560X%2F1
• 关键词: Microbial; carbon; cycling; under; geological

In recognition of the growing global climate emergency caused by the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel use, the UK government recently passed into law a commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This ambitious target not only calls for a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, but also for the direct removal of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. A compelling way to do this is with carbon capture and storage, whereby CO2 from fossil fuel use is captured at source (for example power plants and cement factories) and transported for safe storage 0.8 km or more beneath the surface of the Earth. In order for this carbon capture and storage approach to succeed, captured CO2 must be injected into deep geological formations, such as high salinity sandstone aquifers, on a permanent basis. These formations have the right geological characteristics for CO2 storage, and numerous pilot projects have demonstrated that the injection of large volumes of CO2 into these subsurface environments is possible. However, recent research has shown that these subsurface environments are inhabited by diverse and active communities of microorganisms, and the impacts of microbial activity in a deep geological CO2 storage environment are not known.Microorganisms are capable of using CO2 for their metabolism, and the injection of CO2 into deep subsurface environments is likely to cause a shift in the composition and function of microbial communities towards those capable of exploiting CO2 for growth. This could result in positive impacts, such as enhanced sequestration of CO2 and conversion into biomass (akin to locking away CO2 by planting trees), or negative impacts, such as the production of extra gases that may trigger leakages from the storage reservoir. The research I propose to conduct is designed to better understand the role of microorganisms in a geological CO2 storage facility, and to identify ways in which microorganisms might be harnessed to lock away more CO2 in these environments and even convert waste CO2 into useful chemicals, such as biofuels. I will mimic the conditions of a deep geological CO2 storage reservoir using bespoke 'bioreactors' that allow microbial communities to be studied under the elevated temperatures and pressures common to the subsurface. Throughout these experiments, and in follow-on targeted experiments, I will apply state-of-the-art geochemical and 'omics' techniques to monitor changes to the chemistry and microbiology of the system. A particular focus of this work is to understand how individual organisms in a microbial community work together in driving metabolic processes. These interactions occur in all microbial communities, but are not well understood. Using cutting-edge tools, I will identify and characterise these interactions and in doing so unearth the role of these microbial processes on CO2 storage in unprecedented detail. These results will be used to develop computer models of these communities, enabling predictions to be made on the role of these microbial communities under different conditions. Using these predictions, we can learn how to harness the power of microorganisms in the subsurface to help the UK reach its zero emissions target by 2050.

为了认识到由于化石燃料使用的二氧化碳（CO2）排放量增加而导致的全球气候紧急情况日益增长，英国政府最近通过法律通过了到2050年达到零排放的承诺。这个雄心勃勃的目标不仅要求过渡从化石燃料到可再生能源，也可以直接从大气中清除二氧化碳排放。一种令人信服的方法是使用碳捕获和存储，从化石燃料中使用的二氧化碳在源（例如发电厂和水泥厂）中被捕获，并运输以安全存储在地球表面下方0.8 km或更多。为了使这种碳捕获和储存方法成功，必须永久将捕获的二氧化碳注入深层地质地层，例如高盐度砂岩含水层。这些地层具有二氧化碳存储的正确地质特征，并且许多试点项目表明，将大量CO2注入这些地下环境是可能的。但是，最近的研究表明，这些地下环境是由微生物的各种和活跃的社区居住的，并且在深层地质二氧化碳存储环境中微生物活性的影响尚不清楚。微生物能够使用CO2进行代谢，并能够使用CO2进行。二氧化碳进入深度地下环境可能会导致微生物群落的组成和功能转移到能够利用二氧化碳增长的人。这可能会导致积极影响，例如增强的二氧化碳和转化为生物质（类似于通过种植树木锁定二氧化碳），或者产生负面影响，例如产生可能触发存储储层泄漏的额外气体。我建议进行的研究旨在更好地了解微生物在地质二氧化碳存储设施中的作用，并确定可能利用微生物在这些环境中锁定更多二氧化碳的方法，甚至将废物CO2转化为有用的化学物质，例如作为生物燃料。我将使用定制的“生物反应器”模仿深层二氧化碳储存库的条件，该储存器可以在地下常见的温度和压力下研究微生物群落。在这些实验中，以及在有针对性的实验中，我将应用最先进的地球化学和“ OMICS”技术来监视系统的化学和微生物学的变化。这项工作的一个特殊重点是了解微生物社区中的个别生物如何在推动代谢过程中共同努力。这些相互作用发生在所有微生物群落中，但尚未得到很好的理解。使用尖端工具，我将确定并表征这些相互作用，并在这样做这些微生物过程中的作用，以前所未有的细节在二氧化碳存储中。这些结果将用于开发这些社区的计算机模型，从而可以在不同条件下对这些微生物群落的作用做出预测。使用这些预测，我们可以学习如何利用地下中微生物的力量，以帮助英国到2050年达到其零排放目标。