[Digestion] An apology...and an excuse

[finstein at envsci.rutgers.edu]

Not a problem, Steve -

Your background in molecular biology and biochemistry is actually central
to the matter. But - and a big but it is - not in the clean context of
pure culture systems being fed nice uniform substrates. Think of the vast
range of substrates in garbage, and the vast array of organisms and enzyme
systems needed to transform that mess to CO2, H2O and CH4! The idea of
adding some special inoculum or biocatalyst to bring it about - or even to
accelerate it - becomes absurd. Same for composting, sewage treatment, etc
etc. Think nature guided by appropriate technology.

Mel



> There's been talk in the media here about what constitutes a good apology,
> so I know this one will be  of low quality, but I am sorry for asking such
> a
> simple question. I do have access to reasonable online sources, but not a
> good physical library, and I don't actively work in this field -- I'm just
> interested in it, and in energy issues in general. I'm pretty sure it
> would
> take me longer than 10 minutes to answer my question. My background is in
> molecular biology and biochemistry, not all that useful. This relatively
> quiet forum seemed a reasonable place to ask the question, which I didn't
> think was off-topic.
>
> That said, the question was my ignorant response to the difficulty/large
> uncertaintly in estimating methane output, which must be mostly due to
> digester-to-digester variability of microbial communities. My impression
> is
> that AD is done with whatever organisms happen to be present, but it
> seemed
> to me that (as some products claim to do with composting) it might be
> possible to inoculate with a particularly enthusiastic microbial
> community,
> or even engineer better methanogens. Apparently this is either not
> possible,
> or is not considered worth thinking about.
>
> Thanks for your patience,
>
> Steve
>
>>From: finstein at envsci.rutgers.edu
>>To: "Duncan Martin" <duncanjmartin at eircom.net>
>>CC: "Steve Verhey" <verheys at hotmail.com>, digestion at listserv.repp.org
>>Subject: Re: [Digestion] Calculating methane production
>>Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 07:32:55 -0400 (EDT)
>>
>>Duncan -
>>
>>As you say (in effect): one man's junk (one microbe's metabolic waste) is
>>another man's treasure (another microbe's substrate). But questioning the
>>complexity of the metabolic web terminating in methane was not what
>>started the thread. Rather, the question asked was - how to estimate
>>methane production.
>>
>>Mel
>>
>>
>> > Come on lads!!
>> >
>> > I might speak only for myself but I think it's an abuse of a forum
>> like
>> > this
>> > for folk to use it as a replacement for ten minutes work in a
>>half-decent
>> > public library or on the internet. I'm more tolerant when the enquiry
>> > comes
>> > from somewhere remote. But I don't think the USA qualifies!
>> >
>> > For info, Steve, yes there is a mass of research and "a particularly
>>good
>> > methanogenic microbial community" is characterized by a great
>> diversity
>>of
>> > species, very many of which are not methanogens. Now, go read!
>> >
>> > Fraternally yours
>> >
>> > Duncan J Martin
>> >
>> > Chair
>> > Republic of Ireland Centre
>> > Chartered Institution of Wastes Management
>> >
>> > ================================
>> > CONTACT DETAILS
>> > Duncan J Martin, PhD, CEng, CSci, MIEI, MCIWM, MIChemE
>> > 24 Townsfield, Cloughjordan, N Tipperary, Ireland
>> > Mobile: +353 86 8377 906
>> > Home: +353 505 42087
>> > Email: duncanjmartin at eircom.net
>> > ================================
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: "Steve Verhey" <verheys at hotmail.com>
>> > To: <finstein at envsci.rutgers.edu>; <digestion at listserv.repp.org>
>> > Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 11:13 PM
>> > Subject: Re: [Digestion] Calculating methane production
>> >
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Presumably not all organisms in an anaerobic environment are
>> >> methanogens.
>> >> Is
>> >> there research on what a particularly good methanogenic microbial
>> >> community
>> >> looks like? Maybe it's even possible to make an inoculum that would
>> get
>> >> things started off in the right direction?
>> >>
>> >> Steve Verhey, Ph.D
>> >> Biologist at Large
>> >> Ellensburg, WA USA
>> >>
>
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