Essay

UmweltPerspektiven 4/2018

System change – from petroleum-based to bio-based

Prof. Hauke Harms

Prof. Hauke Harms
Head of the Research Unit Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology as well as of the Department of Environmental Microbiology

He is a biologist and Head of the Research Unit Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology as well as of the Department of Environmental Microbiology at the UFZ in Leipzig. He also holds the chair for Environmental Microbiology at the University of Leipzig. He has been spokesperson for the "Terrestrial Environment" programme in the Helmholtz research field "Earth and Environment" since 2014. His research focuses on the ecology and ecophysiology of microbial communities in soils, surface water and technical systems and on the design of biotechnological procedures which are based on complex microbe populations and exploit ecological principles. In 2010 he was awarded the Erwin Schrödinger Prize for the development of ARSOlux, a biological test kit for the analysis of arsenic in drinking water. Hauke Harms has been chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology since 2016
The energy transition is only the beginning of an overall transformation of our present global economic system, at the core of which is a turn away from fossil resources to using only continuously available resources. This is admittedly an ambitious prognosis – especially given knowledge of the difficulties of the energy transition. But there is no responsible alternative if we consider the living conditions of future generations. It is, after all, the unsustainable economic activity of a few generations that has brought our climate out of balance, exploited fossil energy reserves and exhausted many raw material deposits down to pitiful remains.

It is encouraging that we have all the necessary ingredients for a comprehensive transformation: Solar energy that is constantly supplied to planet Earth in quantities exceeding any predictions of future energy demand. This is supplemented by plants and microorganisms that have learned to preserve solar energy in material form. Millions of generations of microorganisms and plants have charged the fossil battery in the form of oil, gas and coal that we have been tapping since the beginning of industrialisation.

Over four billion years, microorganisms have produced capabilities that surpass human experience.

With no help from us, nature has thus succeeded over geological periods in converting solar energy into a vast diversity of organic compounds with a high utility and calorific value. Given all of our knowledge and possibilities, we should then be able to cover our energy and material needs in real time with the permanently available ingredients and correspondingly reduce our dependence on fossil reserves. Bit by bit, we are making progress: Our understanding of the biological, chemical and physical processes is steadily improving, and we are able to convert and store solar energy – in both material and energy form. We therefore have the foundations of the transition to a bioeconomy that is both economically sustainable and resource and climate neutral and compatible with ecosystems and landscape functions. This affects nearly every area of our economy – from power generation to agriculture and forestry to the textile and chemical industries.

The technical sector of the bioeconomy will first be based on plants as natural solar plants and on their biomass. The biomass is the raw material for a wide range of production processes driven by microorganisms. Already today, a whole series of alternative energy carriers such as biogas and industrial chemicals are being produced and distributed. Countless product ideas are sitting in the laboratories, waiting for suitable economic conditions. The purely biological process chains are being increasingly connected with chemical and physical components. Some of these technically reproduce the inventions of nature and make them more efficient. Artificial variants of photosynthesis are just one example.

The discovery of electroactive bacteria is only one of the many surprises that have made microbiology one of the most dynamic scientific disciplines over the past three decades.

Another example is the focus of the following feature article. This shows how bacteria produce electric current from waste and how the supply of electrical energy enables them to perform syntheses that are purely biologically speaking, not possible. In addition to environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical production, this also opens a door to new possibilities for the flexible use of excess electric power. Many process steps in future biotechnologies will thus be taken from the inexhaustible arsenal of microbiological functions. Over four billion years of evolutionary history, microorganisms have produced capabilities that surpass human experience. The discovery of electroactive bacteria is only one of the many surprises that have made microbiology one of the most dynamic scientific disciplines over the past three decades. Examples of the exclusivity of certain microorganisms include:

  • Their independence from oxygen,
  • A near-unbelievable robustness with regard to temperatures, pressures, radiation and pH levels that would kill a human being on the spot,
  • Generations that can range from a few minutes to millennia,
  • The ability to communicate with each other and coordinate their actions, and
  • A nutritional spectrum that corresponds fairly exactly with what our planet produces in chemical compounds, including a large portion of industrial production.
These and other discoveries have necessitated a complete rewriting of the global cycles of key bioelements such as nitrogen over recent years – hardly anything is more fleeting at present than a textbook on microbiology. It is therefore not surprising that countless research groups around the world are now tilling the broad and exciting field of microbiology with its many facets. Many of our colleagues are focusing on developing enzymes recovered from microorganisms into practical catalysts that then enable complex syntheses steps – such as in plastics production. In contrast, the microbiologists and biotechnologists at UFZ are concentrating on researching complete microorganisms or even entire complex microbial communities. These are what will ultimately be used in open technical systems such as biogas reactors or sewage treatment plants. Their potential is still far from exhausted. Manufacturing biotechnology should also rely more on high-performance, robust microbial communities, such as for manufacturing basic chemicals. If this is successful, the resulting processes will then be just as self-regulating, reliable and easily maintained as natural ecosystems.

A chain of scientific value creation is being established with this at UFZ that starts with discovery and understanding of the biological function and extends through its technological exploitation to its incorporation in the environmentally compatible production systems of tomorrow. In doing so, we help to reduce the consumption of fossil and inorganic resources and to close material cycles – in the sense of a comprehensive transformation of our global economy that will soon be supplied from an inexhaustible source of sustainable resources.