Petroleum Microbiology: The Role of Microorganisms in the Transition to Net Zero Energy

In the oil and gas industry, technologies have been developed to address microbial-related issues such as oil field souring, microbiologically influenced corrosion, biofouling, and targeted measures for risk assessment and mitigation. Microorganisms have also benefited the oil sector through microbial-enhanced oil recovery and bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated environments. However, during the current transitional phase in the oil and gas industry, the role of the microbiome within the current infrastructure and its potential impact on future systems remains an open question. Petroleum Microbiology: The Role of Microorganisms in the Transition to Net Zero Energy explores technological advances in applied microbiology in the oil and gas sector that can be utilized in its transition to renewable energy systems.

• Provides insights on the potential of applying microbiological techniques in oil systems to pave the way to achieving net-zero energy.

• Presents the major industrial problems caused by microbes and their beneficial activities from both fundamental and applied perspectives.

• Covers such technologies as next-generation sequencing, sampling, and diagnostics.

• Offers a solid foundation on the importance of microbes to key aspects of the energy industry.

• Seeks to answer the question: what role will microorganisms play in the evolution of energy systems?

Featuring chapters from interdisciplinary experts spanning academia and industry, this is an excellent reference for microbial ecologists, molecular biologists, operators, engineers, chemists, and academics involved in the oil and gas sector, working toward energy transition.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Biwen Annie An Stepec (formerly An), PhD, holds the position of Senior Researcher at Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE) in Bergen, Norway.

Ken Wunch, PhD, holds the position of Energy Technology Fellow at Lanxess in Houston responsible for business development, technology transfer, and shaping the innovation pipeline and strategy for global oil and gas applications.

Torben Lund Skovhus, PhD, is Docent and Project Manager at VIA University College in the Research Centre for Built Environment, Climate, Water Technology and Digitalisation.