Environment and Energy

With our expertise in bioengineering and microbiology, NRC scientists are currently working on biobarriers which will help clean our polluted waters and provide an effective solution for contamination caused by methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive. The barrier, packed with perlite, is augmented with cultures of Mycobacterium austroafricanum, a microorganism which accelerates the biodegradation process. These biobarriers represent one of the many projects at NRC that will contribute to cleaning up our environment.