Objective
Microbial activity in petroleum reservoirs over geologic time has led to the biodegradation of most of the world’s oil reserves. Geochemical evidence for in situ biodegradation is strong, but little is known from a biological perspective and current micobiological understanding is largely inferred from non-oil field environments. Incorporating microbiology into petroleum geoscience and engineering will increase understanding and potentially allow better management of this vast energy resource. Microbial biomass in the deep subsurface is thought to be as large as on earth’s surface, yet our knowledge of this ‘Amazon’ beneath us remains currently almost zero. To better understand oil biodegradation, the microbiology of subsurface petroleum reservoirs will be investigated at Newcastle University by combining approaches in molecular biology, microbiology and biogeochemistry. Heavy oil samples will be obtained from the Athabasca tar sands in Western Canada. Nucleic acid and lipid analyses of in situ microbial communities will reveal the diversity and abundance of reservoir microbial groups. Efforts directed toward successfully cultivating indigenous reservoir microbes - a goal that has largely eluded petroleum microbiologists to date - will open doors for growth and physiology studies. Biogeochemical rate measurements (e.g. methane production) in tar sands-inoculated microcosms will enable linking specific organisms to important processes. We hypothesize that hydrocarbon-degrading consortia of syntrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea will be important players. Alternatively, anaerobes that couple hydrocarbon oxidation to sulfate or iron reduction may also be important. A stronger microbiological understanding of these groups and their roles in situ will be key to developing sound heavy oil management strategies and future applications for upgrading of heavy oil into methane.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules nucleic acids
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry hydrocarbons
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy petroleum
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2007-4-2-IIF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.