Planet-Saving Microbes in Home Sludge: The Two Frontiers Project's CO2 Capture Quest

In this episode, NPR reporters travel to Iron Spring near Manitou Springs, Colorado, to glimpse the hidden microbial world that thrives around rust and mineral-rich water. Microbiologist James Henrickson and Braden Tierney explain how rust-associated microbes could illuminate environmental resilience, while the Two Frontiers Project searches for microbes with practical benefits like carbon capture and antibiotic production. The team extends the search from coral reefs to Mojave Desert soils and volcanic vents off Sicily to identify microbes with useful capabilities, and even taps community scientists such as Rebecca Espinoza collecting samples from Loveland, Colorado homes. The show closes with a cautious note: turning microbial discoveries into real-world solutions is energy-intensive and costly, so cutting emissions remains essential.

Introduction: Iron Spring and the Hidden Microbial World

The episode opens at Iron Spring, outside Manitou Springs, Colorado, where mineral water bursts into a basin and rust stains the surroundings. The hosts frame rust as more than a chemical change, presenting it as a habitat for microbes that could teach us how to transform waste and pollution. This sets the stage for a broader discussion about microbes as environmental engineers with real-world potential.

Microbial Alchemists: From CO2 Sucking to Antibiotic Partners

Harvard Medical School microbiologist Braden Tierney explains the Two Frontiers Project’s aim to discover microorganisms with practical uses, including carbon capture and antibiotic production. A standout microbe nicknamed Chonkus is described as a carbon-dioxide sucking organism that grows quickly and sinks to the bottom of the water column for easy harvesting. "Chonkus could make an ideal candidate for scaling up to perhaps one day suck down large amounts of planet-warming CO2 from the air" - Braden Tierney, microbiologist at Harvard Medical School. James Henrickson emphasizes that microbial diversity hosts a wide range of useful physiologies, but translating those traits into scalable solutions requires careful engineering and economic viability.

"microbes are constantly evolving" - Lisa Stein, climate-change microbiologist at the University of Alberta. This insight underscores the dynamic nature of microbial life and the challenge of keeping pace with their adaptability when designing deployment strategies.

From Reefs to Homes: A Global and Local Search for Useful Microbes

The narrative follows field trips to coral reefs in the Red Sea, Mojave Desert soils, Colorado springs, and even volcanic vents off Sicily, illustrating how microbes adapt to extreme environments and how these adaptations might translate into tools for carbon management and environmental remediation. The project also invites public participation, with community scientists sampling home sludge, showerheads, and drains to gauge the microbial world living in ordinary spaces.

Reality Check: Scaling Up and the Emissions Imperative

Researchers acknowledge that while microbial discovery holds promise, the path to wide deployment is long and energy-intensive. The episode emphasizes that the most impactful climate action remains reducing fossil fuel emissions, particularly in transportation, and that microbial approaches must prove viable in real-world contexts before they can displace or replace existing strategies.

Community Science and Continuation of the Search

The Two Frontiers Project has engaged homeowners across the United States, collecting dozens of samples before the project closed. The episode closes with a note that, although this research is exciting, immediate, scalable solutions depend on broader structural changes in energy and industry, and the microbial frontier continues to inspire ongoing exploration and collaboration.