Introduction
It should be noted that the beer production process is centered around fermentation by yeast organisms to convert sugar into alcohol. However, the process also produces significant carbon dioxide, which requires capturing and reuse. There are three major ways CO2 can be used: beer recycling, photosynthetic organisms, and genetically modified strains of bacteria.
Main body
The beer manufacturing process uses CO2 in order to make the beverage more acidic and crisp. Therefore, the most evident use of the released CO2 from the fermentation is its reuse at the same facilities. However, the latter requires a capturing mechanism, which can be expensive. In the case of microorganisms, photosynthetic microbes can use light and CO2 to create carbohydrates. Thus, using algae or cyanobacteria might be useful in order to convert the CO2 byproduct into sugar, which can also be used for future fermentations. In addition, the latest developments indicate that E. coli can be genetically modified in order to capture and consume CO2, similar to cyanobacteria (Callaway, 2019). The main advantage of such bacteria is the fact that they are “relatively easy to engineer, and its fast growth means that changes can be quickly tested and tweaked to optimize genetic alterations” (Callaway, 2019, para. 5). In other words, there is a wide range of alternatives when it comes to the reuse of CO2 from beer fermentation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the beer fermentation process involves the conversion of sugar into alcohol and CO2 by yeast cells. The released carbon dioxide gas can be reused with proper capturing within the beer manufacturing process itself. However, the use of photosynthetic autotrophic microorganisms is also feasible. It should also be noted that genetically modified strains of E. coli can be applied due to their fast growth times.
Reference
Callaway, E. (2019). E. coli bacteria engineered to eat carbon dioxide.Nature. Web.