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In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon-containing molecules (usually carbon dioxide or methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic compounds (e.g., hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide) or ferrous ions as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in photosynthesis.
Cyanobacteria such as these carry out photosynthesis. Their emergence foreshadowed the evolution of many photosynthetic plants and oxygenated Earth's atmosphere. Biological carbon fixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the process by which living organisms convert inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide, CO 2) to organic compounds.
Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars in a process called carbon fixation; photosynthesis captures energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. Carbon fixation is an endothermic redox reaction.
Atmospheric methane is an important greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 25 times greater than carbon dioxide (averaged over 100 years), [24] and methanogenesis in livestock and the decay of organic material is thus a considerable contributor to global warming. It may not be a net contributor in the sense that it works on organic ...
Carbon dioxide equilibrates between the atmosphere and the ocean's surface layers. As autotrophs add or subtract carbon dioxide from the water through photosynthesis or respiration, they modify this balance, allowing the water to absorb more carbon dioxide or causing it to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. [2]
Methanation is the conversion of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide (CO x) to methane (CH 4) through hydrogenation. The methanation reactions of CO x were first discovered by Sabatier and Senderens in 1902. [1] CO x methanation has many practical applications.
Through photosynthesis, plants use CO 2 from the atmosphere, water from the ground, and energy from the sun to create sugars used for growth and fuel. [22] While using these sugars as fuel releases carbon back into the atmosphere (photorespiration), growth stores carbon in the physical structures of the plant (i.e. leaves, wood, or non-woody stems). [23]
When oxygen is present, aerobic respiration occurs, producing carbon dioxide. If oxygen is not present, e.g. as is the case in marshes or in animals' digestive tracts, anaerobic respiration can occur, which produces methane. About half of the gross primary production is respired by plants directly back into the atmosphere.