Investigating the activity of indigenous microbial communities from Italian depleted gas reservoirs and their possible impact on underground hydrogen storage.

H produced from renewable energies will play a central role in both greenhouse gas reduction and decarbonization by 2050. Nonetheless, to improve H diffusion and utilization as a fuel, large storage capacity systems are needed. Underground storage of natural gas in depleted reservoirs, aquifers and salt caverns is a well-established technology.

Biogeochemical characterization of four depleted gas reservoirs for conversion into underground hydrogen storage.

Depleted gas reservoirs are a valuable option for underground hydrogen storage (UHS). However, different classes of microorganisms, which are capable of using free H as a reducing agent for their metabolism, inhabit deep underground formations and can potentially affect the storage. This study integrates metagenomics based on Illumina-NGS sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA and dsrB and mcrA functional genes to unveil the composition and the variability of indigenous microbial populations of four Italian depleted reservoirs.

Perspective on the use of methanogens in lithium recovery from brines.

Methanogenic archaea stand out as multipurpose biocatalysts for different applications in wide-ranging industrial sectors due to their crucial role in the methane (CH) cycle and ubiquity in natural environments. The increasing demand for raw materials required by the manufacturing sector (i.e.