Research progress in bio-conversion of carbon dioxide to methane

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide reduction and utilization is a key issue attracting increasing attention at present. Using carbon dioxide as the resource for the production of methane facilitates the environmental and social sustainability. By reviewing the studies of different technologies for the bio-conversion of carbon dioxide to methane, we summarized the pathways and influencing factors of carbon dioxide bio-conversion and the mechanisms and energy sources of the bio-conversion conducted by methylotrophic methanogens and hydrogenotrophic methanogens. Furthermore, we reviewed the studies about microbial electrosynthesis by different methanogens. We elaborated on the progress and existing problems in the reactor design, electrode material selection, parameter optimization, and result evaluation of carbon dioxide bio-conversion technologies, including microbial electrosynthesis, photosynthetic biohybrid systems, and anaerobic digestion. In particular, we put forward that enhancing microbial activity, improving hydrogen utilization efficiency, accelerating efficient electrode development, increasing energy efficiency, strengthening research on waste gas-stream, and reinforcing photo-electricity conversion can be the priorities and directions of the future research for improving microbial electrosynthesis. Moreover, this review deduced that strengthening interdisciplinary collaborative innovation, such as computer-based simulation, would be a new direction to promote the advances in carbon dioxide bio-conversion technology.