A new discovery has found that microbes can naturally break down oil reservoirs in an effective and economical way as compared to the conventional methods of oil production.
As per the news published by Innovation-report, an international team that comprises of scientists of University of Calgary has come up with a new report that says crude oil in oil reservoirs worldwide, including Alberta's oil sands, can be naturally disintegrated by microbes.
There are an estimated 3,000 Billion Barrels oil reserves around the world, out of which between one-third and two-thirds have already been unearthed. Annual use of oil reserves stand at around 30 Billion Barrels and hence, the threat of running out of oil reserves has prompted people to look for alternative sources of energy.
The team has found that deep inside the earth lives a tiny insect which could play an important role in exploiting the trillions of energy stored in the form of crude oil that is expensive and filthy to produce through modern techniques. With the help of this tiny bug, the oil industry can avoid to use traditional methods like injecting steam into reservoirs to separate bitumen from oil.
The biggest advantage of this natural mechanism of oil production is that it very economical as well as effective. By using the conventional methods, it was very difficult to convert heavy oil or oil sands into clean fuel like natural gas but this natural mechanism can cut down the cost by up to 10%, as per the news published by Telegraph.
This biodegradation process has also given a ray of hope to deal with today's biggest threats of global warming and climate change as these microbes capture CO2 easily and convert it into methane. This methane later on can be recycled to use as a fuel.
The new mechanism of oil production has an edge over the traditional methods as it would double the recovery by retrieving clean natural gas and leaving bitumen and toxic containments deep underground.
According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, "The fear of empty oil reserves has become the greatest worry for the global Oil Industry. This new discovery gives hope to tackle the problem of oil extinction. It will help in meeting the future oil requirements without causing any damages to the environment. Besides, it can also be used to stop microbes that change hydrocarbon to methane as well as those microbes which convert methane into hydrogen and CO2, gases dangerous for the environment."
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