Bioremediation : Environment for UPSC Exams

• Bioremediation is the use of microbes to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater and to degrade environmental pollutants.

• Microbes are very small organisms, such as bacteria, that live naturally in the environment.

• Bioremediation stimulates the growth of certain microbes that use contaminants as a source of food and energy.

• Conventional methods like mechanical removal, burial, evaporation, dispersion, and washing are expensive and can lead to incomplete decomposition, leaving residual contaminants to pollute soil and water.

• Employed in areas that are inaccessible without excavation. For ex: spills affecting ground water.

• Clean up petroleum pollutants from the environment conserving aquatic wildlife without negatively affecting bio-diversity.

• Technologies based on Bioremediation: Bio-leaching, Bio-Venting, Bio-augmentation, Composting.

Online Crash Course for UPSC PRE Exam

Printed Study Material for UPSC Pre General Studies (Paper-1)

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