Petroleum Microbiology's Metamorphosis

In the dynamic landscape of today’s energy sector, the shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources has become a focal point of exploration and innovation. Yet, microorganisms continue to be a dominant player amid this transition period. In a series of enlightening interviews, we engage with experts who stand at the forefront of this research, offering valuable perspectives on the pivotal role of microorganisms in the ongoing energy transition. These conversations provide a unique window into the intricate relationships between microbiology and the energy transition, shedding light on how these tiny organisms hold the potential to drive significant change in our quest for a more sustainable energy future.

Please tell us a bit about your professional background and current line of work.

I am an environmental microbiologist with expertise in the microbiology of subsurface and engineered environments. I am particularly interested in industrial issues associated with microbial activity (e.g., souring, MIC), microbial control, and applications such as biogas production.

From your experience, how has the field of petroleum microbiology research changed over the past 10 years?

The use of molecular microbiology and easy access to DNA sequencing have certainly opened many doors to understanding the complex microbial community associated with petroleum microbiology questions. This has led to many answers and, interestingly, to further questions as well. I believe we have become more aware of the need for interdisciplinary collaboration as well.

In recent years, we have seen a massive shift within the energy landscape. To what extent do you think microbiology would play a role during this transition phase?

It should play an important role if we want to avoid expensive issues in the future. We already know of the importance of subsurface microbial communities and their potential to cause significant changes in engineered environments. By regularly monitoring from “time zero”, well-informed mitigating decisions can be made in a timely manner.Dr. Julia R. de Rezende

Assistant professor

Heriot-Watt University, UK

Doctor Julia R de Rezende who is Assistant Professor at the Heriot Watt University in the United Kingdom.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_1_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_1_PB.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>

What are some research topics you believe are important to transfer from the oil and gas industry to the renewable sector?

Microbial ecology of subsurface environments, souring, and MIC. This should be supported by interdisciplinary research with (geo)chemists, engineers, modelers, and materials scientists, and should involve field monitoring and lab experiments. Genomics and metagenomics have a huge potential to unravel knowledge that can lead to groundbreaking solutions, and ecophysiological experiments will help test hypotheses generated by omics techniques and simulate scenarios applicable to the field.

With your expert opinions, how can microbial populations positively and negatively impact green energy as the energy landscape is quickly changing?

As seen for decades in the oil industry, microbial activity can have a detrimental effect on operations with the production of unwanted gases that can contaminate gas reserves, contribute to climate change, and put workers at risk. Biocorrosion can also lead to increased costs in infrastructure maintenance. However, we could also harness the activity of microbes for the production of energy-rich gases or other compounds that can themselves be energy sources with a lower impact on the environment.

Would microbial control remain an important aspect of renewables, and why?

For sure. Microbes are incredibly resilient and can make a living in unexpected environments and surfaces, reducing the lifespan of materials, infrastructure, or operations. Monitoring and early, strategic control are essential.

What would you like to see in the next 10 years in the field of petroleum/energy microbiology?

Interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle these complex, real-life industrial issues, as well as support for research that leads to significant understanding of underlying mechanisms and microbial interactions, which can really lead to meaningful, effective solutions and field-applicable technological advancement.

Please tell us a bit about your professional background and current line of work.

My background is in environmental microbiology with a special focus on subsurface and anaerobic microbiology. I am currently focusing on the effects of microbes in energy systems.Dr. Nicole Dopffel

Senior Researcher

Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), Norway

Doctor Nicole Dopffel who is a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Research Center in Norway.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_2_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_2_PB.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>

From your experience, how has the field of petroleum microbiology research changed over the past 10 years?

I have not been active for 10 years in this field (so I guess I am still young), but I have already experienced the changes of several oil price crises and now the energy crisis. Prices for energy are either in the sky or at the bottom. The effects on research are always strong. When I started, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was a very active topic including microbially enhanced oil recovery (MEOR). This is now over, and EOR is not attractive from a research standpoint. I also see that MIC got more and more attention over the past few years. I noticed a strong change when Dennis Enning’s paper on EMIC was published. I had the feeling that suddenly the research exploded. Now real petroleum microbiology is difficult and as mentioned oil-related research is not very interesting. But I am not sad about this.

In recent years, we have seen a massive shift within the energy landscape. To what extent do you think microbiology would play a role during this transition phase?

Everything in the subsurface is affected by microbes. So, microbiology will play a vital role also in the future energy systems. Even a more important role as CO₂ and H₂ storage will be key pillars of the energy system and they need to work. Here there are still big question marks when it comes to microbiology. Also, corrosion of wind pillars and wind turbines is a major research area which has been ignored up until now.

What are some research topics you believe are important to transfer from the oil and gas industry to the renewable sector?

Effects on H₂ underground storage

Effects on CO₂ storage

Biomethanation processes

Biohydrogen processes

Geothermal installations and microbial problems

What are some key technological advances you see that are important to transfer from petroleum to renewable energy?

I would say all of them. Reservoir microbiology is not specifically linked to oil but to everything which is inside a reservoir.

Would microbial control remain an important aspect of renewables and why?

Sure! Just speaking of hydrogen storage, the question of how to protect the tasty hydrogen from microbial consumption will probably be a research topic for many years. It has not even started yet.

What would you like to see in the next 10 years in the field of petroleum/energy microbiology?

I would love to have a stronger focus on microbial communities and not only single strains. Communities are the drivers in the subsurface but so very hard to research. I also would love if old-school cultivation work will still be done. With the new DNA methods, sometimes it is forgotten that you actually need enrichments and strains growing in the lab to understand your genomic data. Here I see a lot of cool developments in culturing difficult microbes and communities.

Please tell us a bit about your professional background and current line of work.

I am a reservoir engineer with more than 10 years of experience in storage of different gases in the subsurface. This includes, but is not limited to, the storage of hydrogen in porous depleted oil and gas reservoirs. Within my company RAG Austria AG, I am currently charged with supporting research on the subsurface aspects of hydrogen storage and the identification and development of future hydrogen storage projects.Markus Pichler

Reservoir Engineer Subsurface Storage Development

RAG Austria AG, Austria

Markus Pichler who is the Reservoir Engineer at the Subsurface Storage Development in Austria.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_3_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_3_PB.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>

From your experience, how has the field of petroleum microbiology research changed over the past 10 years?

There is definitely a change from “those beasts are annoying” to how they can be utilized. It is still a fact that the industry needs to control and deal with microbial life in the subsurface in order to prevent negative effects on our operation. However, projects like Bio-EOR and Underground Sun Conversion are good initiatives in not only worrying about, but also utilizing microbes for the benefit of the industry.

In recent years, we have seen a massive shift within the energy landscape. To what extent do you think microbiology would play a role during this transition phase?

The most important topics are microbial fouling and microbial-induced corrosion, which will stay with the industry as long as we are injecting foreign fluids into the subsurface. Not only in hydrogen storage but also in geothermal applications do microbial-induced changes play an important role when developing a future monitoring and incident-preventing system. The growing awareness for these topics is not only reflected by numerous publications that have been produced in the past years but also by the fact that many oil and gas companies are now establishing their own microbial divisions and are actively spending money on research.

What are some research topics you believe are important to transfer from the oil and gas industry to the renewable sector?

I do not really see that big a shift, to be honest. We are and will still be an energy industry generating and distributing energy to our customers. So, our basic know-how will go in full into this new field of application. It is my understanding that all disciplines that have been supporting the energy industry for the past decades have their role to play in a future energy system and their know-how will be needed. In detail there are changes that need to be addressed, but to give a technical answer, the basic equations stay the same.

With your expert opinions, how can microbial populations positively and negatively impact green energy as the energy landscape is quickly changing?

If we only focus on how microbes can harm and prevent new technologies from arising, the perception will grow that change is impossible and companies as well as investors will no longer be interested. Don’t get me wrong. It is important to list all the possible ways in which microbes could prevent a project from happening; however, it depends if this list is presented with an alarmist attitude or one where researchers actually can contribute to a solution. As I see it, the communication that should be done is rather simple. The aim must be to understand the processes that might happen for example in hydrogen storage. If the understanding is there, it can be verified by field tests and solutions can and will be found that will lead toward a positive outcome. Finally, with technologies like renewable methane, and microbial remediation of contaminated sites, there are already examples of how microbes can support a renewable energy future and who knows if there isn’t a bug out there that can bind CO₂ in huge quantities.

What would you like to see in the next 10 years in the field of petroleum/energy microbiology?

Pilots and commercial projects but also a huge increase in public engagement. The transformation we are seeing is still a niche of our industry and although there is one press release after another common people are not yet really informed nor engaged. Lab experiments are great and dearly needed to explain the basics that we are seeing in the field. But nothing beats a long-term field experiment. Only by verifying lab experiments in the field can we really build confidence in emerging technologies. Also, in a public engagement it is something completely different if you show lab experiments compared to the actual application of the technology. Especially if you deliver this technology to the public so they can experience it and see the benefit they are gaining for themselves. If we manage the step from lab to field together with the public, then in my opinion the biggest showstopper for a future renewable energy system is out of our way.

Please tell us a bit about your professional background and current line of work.

I have a PhD in chemical engineering with a focus on microbiology. During my PhD, I studied the physiology of co-culture biofilms, particularly the ones implicated in microbial corrosion. I also investigated the metagenome and metabolome associated with microbial corrosion from oilfield-produced water. After my PhD, I started working at DNV (an independent, energy-consulting company) managing microbiology projects covering topics like microbial corrosion, biofilms, bioremediation, biofouling, etc. We work with oil and gas companies needing technical support in microbiology.Dr. Susmitha Purnima Kotu

Senior Engineer

DNV, USA

Doctor Susmitha Kotu who is a Senior Engineer at D N V in the U S A.https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_4_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003287056/e60883a3-17e9-4e8e-857a-dc138951b362/content/figu1_4_PB.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>

From your experience, how has the field of petroleum microbiology research changed over the past 10 years?

It was 10 years ago that I started my PhD and was exposed to the field of petroleum microbiology for the first time. The biggest shift has been the widespread adoption of molecular microbiological methods for understanding the microbial community and the role of microorganisms. I see more professionals aware of the appropriate methods for sampling and preservation when conducting corrosion failure analysis. The most interesting of all these is the focus in research shifting from solely trying to solve microbial challenges in petroleum microbiology to also investigating the uses of microorganisms to help with energy transition. A couple of examples include a) using microorganisms for carbon capture and conversion to useful products such as jet fuel and beverage bottles (work done by LanzaTech) and b) using depleted oil and gas reservoirs to make hydrogen (work done by Cemvita Factory).

In recent years, we have seen a massive shift within the energy landscape, to what extent do you think microbiology would play a role during this transition phase?

Many energy companies have pledged net-zero emissions by 2050. This involves efficient, safe, and sustainable use of oil and gas assets ensuring no leaks or failures. Hence, the biggest role of microbiology in this energy transition is to reliably diagnose the microbial threats and optimize the mitigation treatments.

What are some research topics you believe are important to transfer from the oil and gas industry to the renewable sector?

I think the concepts of microbial communities, microbial metabolism, appropriate sampling and preservation, and reliable understanding of microbial threats are critical.