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White Paper: The Subtle Power of Microorganisms

for Resolving Other Inconvenient Truths

By Alan Rozich, Ph.D., P.E., DEE, BioConversion Solutions “And scattered about it, . . . were the Martians--dead!--slain by … bacteria against which their systems were unprepared; slain … after all man's devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.” H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, England, 1898.

An underlying, but unappreciated and arguably overlooked, theme in H. G. Wells’ landmark novel, “The War of the Worlds” concerns the power that can be wielded by microorganisms. His tale about a war between the Earth and Mars was inspired after speaking with his brother, Frank, about events in Tasmania in the 19th century. His brother recounted how European settlers armed with modern weapons soon overwhelmed and eradicated the

less technologically sophisticated, native populations of Tasmania. Wells

conjectured what would happen if an advanced civilization would descend from the sky and wage war against humans.

H. G. Wells Courtesy, The H. G. Wells Society

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As can be surmised, microorganisms were the inhabitants of Planet Earth that were able to vanquish the Martians which mankind otherwise could not, even with all the aid and assistance of modern science, technology, and weaponry. Ironically, the humblest of nature’s creatures were more than up to the task to defeat and to destroy the seemingly invincible Martian armies. Wells was also trying to convey the point that, despite the technological wonders that the human race can create, man should be mindful, respectful, and, to an extent, even fearful, of the power that Nature can wield. One cannot help but to read Wells’ timeless work and realize an allegorical similarity with regards to the microbes that routed the Martians and compare them to the microorganisms that brandish enormous power in our environment. Microbial communities also act as a pivotal cog in mankind’s efforts to maintain a sustainable economy that preserves long-term environmental integrity. Consider all the ways that microorganisms currently impact human lives, economy, and the environment. As is the case with most powerful things, microbial species and systems are a sword that can cut two ways. These creatures can be very beneficial or, if managed poorly, or with malice, can be very destructive. Microbes are integral for making food, beverages, and medicines, enhancing agriculture, cleaning pollution, and helping to maintain the environment. The converse of these contributions entails the facts that microorganisms are also responsible for causing numerous diseases, inflicting environmental damage when poor or neglectful management practices prevail, and ruining foods if appropriate precautions are not followed. Microbes can both be saviors for a renewable economy with a sound environment and purveyors of mass destruction for humans and the environment, depending on how they are managed or deployed.

Martian Ships on the Attack in the 1953 Movie Version of the Novel

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The key to ensuring that microbes perform estimably is to wield a quantitative understanding of “what makes them tick” and be able to predict and engineer the behavior of microbial systems in a plethora of environments and systems. Many of us are aware of global warming or as Al Gore called it, “an inconvenient truth”. What many people may not be aware of is that

there is a cacophony of “other inconvenient truths” that comprise the root cause of global warming. Any one of these other inconvenient truths potentially poses a more immediate threat to the sustainability of human civilization and the environment. Microbial systems will inevitably play a much more expanded role in mitigating these threats. They will also be pivotal cogs in processes and systems that are needed to transition us from an old resource depletion economy to a new economy formulated using renewable practices. What makes microbes so powerful? Microbes manufacture their own “chemicals” to convert feedstocks or wastes. These chemicals called enzymes are biochemicals that catalyze reactions. Also, since microbial systems are self-propagating, there is an essentially unlimited supply of enzymes as long as there is feedstock for the microbes and as long as the microbes are properly cultivated and maintained. Enzymes are very special chemicals. They are constructed in a unique way that enables them to facilitate reactions quickly without the need for other non-biological chemicals or extreme reaction conditions (for example, the use of heat or pressure to increase reaction rates). Enzymes are built specifically to react with certain compounds to produce specific products. The specificity of their construction is such that they can attach to a target compound at very precise points and de-stabilize key bonds that hold the compound together paving the way for further reaction and metabolism. This means that microbial reactors tend to be relatively low energy systems

Microbial Fermenters at a Brewery

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without the need for extreme heat input or the maintenance of high pressures. This results in are lower operating costs and smaller carbon footprints for these systems. How do we predict and engineer the behavior of microbial systems? In the early 20th century, although great progress was being made in the application of industrial fermenters in many facets of human activities, there still was a pressing need, albeit not likely recognized, that had to be met to facilitate the broader and more aggressive application of microbial systems. Up until the early 1950s, engineers and practitioners in the industrial fermentation space designed and operated microbial systems using cumbersome empirical approaches. That is, they made operational and design recommendations based on empirical process information, instead of having the ability to predict system performance using process models. This glaring need was addressed by Monod and Novick and Szilard. (Jacques Monod was later awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in elaborating operon theory.) These three scientists formulated what has become to be known as “the theory of continuous culture”. This theory laid the foundation for developing quantitative scientific and engineering methods for predicting the behavior, engineering, and operating microbial systems. In the 1980s and 1990s, these practices were augmented with more sophisticated technology to quantify microbial reaction parameters that are key for predicting the behavior of these systems. There are established methodologies to engineer microbial systems and reactors. Much of the foundation for these techniques is based on the theory of continuous culture. Control of microbial systems often comes down to controlling system growth rate. By determining how the growth rate of a culture relates to substrate or feedstock concentration, one can calibrate models for microbial systems for design and operational purposes. What are Other Inconvenient Truths? Although global warming gets the preponderance of popular attention, it should be recognized that it is a symptom of an unbalanced environmental and resource utilization scenario. The root causes reside with other inconvenient truths. These truths include:

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• The need to preserve economic and environmental sustainability. • Rapid economic expansion as exemplified by the burgeoning middle

classes in China and India. • Decreasing resources and availability combined with increased costs.

Key resources include water, energy, fertilizer, and base chemicals. It is becoming increasingly obvious that economic and environmental sustainability, the ominous resource crisis, and the looming resource crisis imposed by incessant economic expansion are all substantially interlinked. The other inconvenient truths can be addressed in large part by transitioning to a more renewable economy. A renewable economy can address the resource issue by “mining” existing waste streams or emissions to provide base resources. The more the economy migrates to a renewable economy where more renewable sources are employed, the less net CO2 is generated by human activity. With less net CO2 generation, global warming resulting from human activities is attenuated. How microbes will play a role with addressing Other Inconvenient Truths? There a number of cutting-edge microbial system applications that have been deployed that show real potential for being tools for catalyzing a renewable economy.

• High Conversion Biological Systems These processes are biological systems that are designed to realize high conversion of feedstocks to end products. Biomass or other feedstock processed by these systems can be converted by more than 80 percent. The feedstock carbon is transformed to renewable energy and nitrogen and phosphorus are also released which can be recovered as fertilizer.

• Fertilizer Production from Biomass

Many existing biological wastewater treatment systems have a tendency to release large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. This fertilizer can be recovered and sold replacing the need for fertilizers made with fossil fuels or made with ore from phosphate mines that have very limited capacity.

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• Green Disinfection Methods for Controlling Microbial Contamination The use of chemical disinfectants can be hazardous and produce unwanted chemical by-products. Green alternatives are available based on the principle of electrolysis, which has better disinfection power without using hazardous chemicals.

• Production of Specialty Chemicals by Microbes Many companies are now making chemicals using microbes and feedstock rather than relying on fossil fuels as feedstock. Some examples include succinic acid for making biodegradable polymers, propanediol that is a key constituent for cosmetics, home cleaning, aircraft de-icing, and anti-freeze, and acrylic acid, which has applications for diapers, hygiene products, flocculants, coatings, dispersions, and adhesives. Butanol can also be made biologically. It is a solvent, intermediate for synthesis of other compounds, and a fuel.

Microbial processes offer a sustainable alternative for providing renewable products. By leveraging their unique capabilities, it is possible to use renewable feedstock with processes that have lower carbon footprints. The goal of this paper is to provide insight to the power of microbes and why they can play such a huge role in achieving sustainability goals profitably. It is not the intent to imply that microbial processes represent a panacea, but rather to communicate that these systems are an under-utilized asset which when properly applied are capable of producing monumental results and be a major component in efforts to preserve a sustainable economy and environment. About BCS BioConversion Solutions, LLC (BCS), formerly PMC BioTec, converts biomass, biowaste, and other organic material to renewable energy and high-value byproducts, including fertilizer and clean water, using the industry’s most advanced and efficient biological processes. We use a biokinetics-based systems approach tailored to your application’s specific feedstock and economic situation to deliver higher profits and increased productivity.