A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production
Carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by developing alternative production processes based on a renewable C1 building block. Formate could link the electrical and chemical sectors as its production can be realized through the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Its function could be either a long-...
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of CO2 Utilization |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212982025000332 |
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| author | Björn Sabel-Becker Nicolas Patrick Jost Anne-Kristin Kaster Dirk Holtmann |
| author_facet | Björn Sabel-Becker Nicolas Patrick Jost Anne-Kristin Kaster Dirk Holtmann |
| author_sort | Björn Sabel-Becker |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by developing alternative production processes based on a renewable C1 building block. Formate could link the electrical and chemical sectors as its production can be realized through the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Its function could be either a long-term energy storage medium or a starting material in a bioprocess. In this study, formate served as an energy and carbon source for methane production with a formatotrophic mixed culture. It was successfully shown that the theoretical maximum of 0.25 methane per formate can be overcome by co-feeding formate with H2. The production yield doubled to 0.555 ± 0.021 in a CO2-free buffer and 0.591 ± 0.032 in a bicarbonate buffer. With excess CO2 in the bicarbonate buffered culture, it was shown that the H2 transfer rate was the limiting factor for this process. Otherwise, the bicarbonate buffered culture outperformed other buffered cultures in terms of start-up time, formate consumption, and methane production rate. The additional CO2 in the gas phase might have enhanced the growth of methanogens in an early stage of cultivation. 16S sequencing revealed the composition of the cultures. With nearly 25 %, the genus Methanofollis was one of the most dominant strains and the only detectable methanogen in the mixed culture, making it an interesting candidate for formatotrophic methane production. In summary, the co-feeding strategy might be an approach to utilizing formate as feedstock for the bioproduction of methane if hurdles like the H2 transfer rates can be overcome. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-019fa7bd254e419489384cc7617faca2 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2212-9839 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of CO2 Utilization |
| spelling | doaj-art-019fa7bd254e419489384cc7617faca22025-08-20T02:46:51ZengElsevierJournal of CO2 Utilization2212-98392025-03-019310304910.1016/j.jcou.2025.103049A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane productionBjörn Sabel-Becker0Nicolas Patrick Jost1Anne-Kristin Kaster2Dirk Holtmann3Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences 2, Electrobiotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Fritz-Haber-Weg 4, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany; Institute of Bioprocess Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen, Wiesenstrasse 14, Giessen 35390, GermanyInstitute of Bioprocess Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen, Wiesenstrasse 14, Giessen 35390, GermanyInstitute for Biological Interfaces (IBG 5), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, Karlsruhe, GermanyInstitute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences 2, Electrobiotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Fritz-Haber-Weg 4, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany; Corresponding author.Carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by developing alternative production processes based on a renewable C1 building block. Formate could link the electrical and chemical sectors as its production can be realized through the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Its function could be either a long-term energy storage medium or a starting material in a bioprocess. In this study, formate served as an energy and carbon source for methane production with a formatotrophic mixed culture. It was successfully shown that the theoretical maximum of 0.25 methane per formate can be overcome by co-feeding formate with H2. The production yield doubled to 0.555 ± 0.021 in a CO2-free buffer and 0.591 ± 0.032 in a bicarbonate buffer. With excess CO2 in the bicarbonate buffered culture, it was shown that the H2 transfer rate was the limiting factor for this process. Otherwise, the bicarbonate buffered culture outperformed other buffered cultures in terms of start-up time, formate consumption, and methane production rate. The additional CO2 in the gas phase might have enhanced the growth of methanogens in an early stage of cultivation. 16S sequencing revealed the composition of the cultures. With nearly 25 %, the genus Methanofollis was one of the most dominant strains and the only detectable methanogen in the mixed culture, making it an interesting candidate for formatotrophic methane production. In summary, the co-feeding strategy might be an approach to utilizing formate as feedstock for the bioproduction of methane if hurdles like the H2 transfer rates can be overcome.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212982025000332MethanogenesisMethanogensFormateFormatotrophicCo-feedingMixed culture |
| spellingShingle | Björn Sabel-Becker Nicolas Patrick Jost Anne-Kristin Kaster Dirk Holtmann A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production Journal of CO2 Utilization Methanogenesis Methanogens Formate Formatotrophic Co-feeding Mixed culture |
| title | A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| title_full | A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| title_fullStr | A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| title_full_unstemmed | A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| title_short | A co-feeding strategy of formate and H2 for methanogens – Enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| title_sort | co feeding strategy of formate and h2 for methanogens enhancing growth parameters and methane production |
| topic | Methanogenesis Methanogens Formate Formatotrophic Co-feeding Mixed culture |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212982025000332 |
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