Recent biotechnological advances in petroleum hydrocarbons degradation under cold climate conditions: A review

In recent years, there have been advances in bioremediation of pollutants with the goal of effective clean-up of environments in an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach. For contamination removal at cold climate sites, bioremediation approaches are appealing due to their potential to be more cost-effective and efficient than alternative, more energy intensive approaches. Recent studies showed both aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation processes are important at cold climate sites. Most of these works are focused on biostimulation and bioaugmentation involved in adding nutrients and hydrocarbon degraders at cold climate sites, but studies on other methods such as the use of biosurfactant, genetically engineered bacteria, cold-adapted enzymes and immobilization method are still limited. This review selectively provides information on bioremediation under aerobic and anaerobic conditions and recent biotechnological advances in bioremediation at cold climate sites. However, the limitations and challenges for petroleum hydrocarbons bioremediation in cold climate remain at large. Further research and field demonstrations are required to determine which method is more effective for biodegradation of petroleum contaminates under such conditions.