Redesigning Nature: How Carbon-Capturing Microbes are Tackling CO₂ at Scale
Carbon-capture microbes (i.e. microbes that capture carbon) are microorganisms that utilize carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a carbon source and convert it into organic compounds, either via photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. This group includes a wide array of microbes such as some bacteria, algae, and archaea, which represent a critical step in the carbon cycle. By sequestering CO₂, carbon-capture microbes aid in the fight against climate change, and scientists are exploring ways to use them for sustainable applications like biofuels, carbon capture, and bioremediation.
Market Outlook
A recent market report states that the global carbon capture market size was valued at USD 3.47 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2024 to 2030.
Market Drivers
- Microbial Design Automation: AI enables the discovery and optimization of new carbon-fixing microbes at an unprecedented pace via genome editing and metabolic engineering.
- Efficiency and Scalability: AI helps in accelerating the time-to-deployment process, allowing for better microbial uptake rates and enabling easier large-scale application across the agriculture, industrial, and energy sectors.
- Climate Impact: Engineered microbes offer an effective, sustainable solution to traditional carbon removal techniques, by decreasing greenhouse gases and making global net-zero targets more achievable.
Challenges
- Regulatory Barriers: The introduction of microbe-engineered microbes into the natural environment is accompanied by high safety evaluations.
- Challenges regarding the Environment & Ethics: There is a need to find a delicate balance between innovation and being environmentally responsible in this area that has such a high impact.
Recent Innovative Addend by Some Players
- NovoNutrients is working on a method to use microbes to capture and convert CO2 into protein that can be used as human food and animal feed. Source
- CyanoCapture is harnessing cyanobacteria (microscopic organisms that can convert CO2 into biomass) in order to make carbon capture a low-energy process. Source
New ground-breaking technologies are revolutionizingthe how we address climate change, making solutions for carbon capture possible in sustainable means inspired by nature and data-centered.
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