RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Luca determined through field sampling and laboratory testing in 2003 that microbes were living in Powder River Basin coals and were capable of making methane. Ongoing study of new areas has led to the discovery of methanogenic microbial communities living in many coal basins, shallow oil fields and shale gas fields, all of which are potential targets for Luca's technology. Since 2003, Luca has continuously refined its methodologies and criteria, and has developed an extensive skill set allowing it to reliably identify bioresource opportunities. To date, Luca has discovered methanogenic activity in 23 fields that it believes would be suitable for the application of its Restoration Process.

Over the past eight years, Luca has achieved a number of significant advances in its research and development effort, resulting in increased natural gas creation in the field. Early testing demonstrated that methanogenesis from coal occurs in real-time. From 2004 to 2006, lab research led to the discovery of Luca's initial nutrient formulations allowing experiments to transition from the lab to the field. Field scale testing of these nutrient formulations between 2006 and 2008 resulted in an average increase in natural gas production of over 25 Mcf per day per restoration treatment. Luca continued to develop its nutrient formulations to increase bioconversion yield and rates of natural gas creation and production. During 2009 and 2010, Luca achieved rapid advances in molecular analysis of methanogenic microorganisms, including DNA based tools for target identification, real-time monitoring and asset evaluation. In addition, Luca added DNA sequencing and Bioinformatics capabilities in its lab facilities, resulting in the creation of an extensive library of subsurface microbial DNA. In 2011, Luca continues to expand its knowledge regarding the importance of water movement in coal seams through mathematical modeling and dynamic lab systems simulating the subsurface environment, as well as field scale experimental testing of water movement.