Coli Bacteria Produce Electricity Better: Swiss Scientists

Swiss researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne – Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) – have successfully garnered the ground-breaking information on the ability of the bacteria , Escherichia coli to produce electricity. It is found that the E coli bacteria are capable of producing electricity from waste water.

As the bacteria that can produce electricity already exist, the E coli bacteria can produce electricity in different atmospheres thus making it most feasible when compared to other bacteria who can only produce electricity in presence of other external elements. This makes the E. coli bacteria more useful than the rest.

“E. coli can grow on wide range of sources, which allowed us to produce electricity in a wide range of environments, including from wastewater”, Ardemis Boghossian, senior chemical engineer was quoted as saying as cited by Science Alert.

Teh Scientists created an “Extracellular Electron Transfer (EET)” pathway by integrating the component of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, another electricity generating bacteria. This process led to the opening of an optimised pathway for the electron transfer. This method aiding to yield a three times increase in the electricity generation. The scientist used water obtained from local brewery from Lausanne, Switzerland. The engineered bacteria effectively fed on the wastewater within 50 hours. While the Shewanella oneidensis could not consume the mixed wastewater. Though the pace  of producing electricity by the  E. coli is slightly lower than the S. oneidensis, E. coli can be put to use by placing it on different atmosphere.

According ti Mr. Bhogossain, instead of putting energy to process the organic waste, the new discovery make it possible to produce energy while processing organic waste simultaneously which is like “hitting two birds with one stone”.

With inputs from agencies.