Several types of bacteria and many non-methanogenic archaea can reduce sulfur.

Naturally occurring bacteria in the Everglades that function to reduce sulfur also transform mercury deposits into methylmercury.

Furthermore, they share an archaeal property, the ability to reduce elemental sulfur by anaerobic respiration in the dark.

The processing required to reduce sulfur to 15 ppm also removes naturally-occurring lubricity agents in diesel fuel.

They added that they would focus on finding ways to cut soot exhaust and reduce sulfur in fuel.

The naturally occurring bacteria that reduce sulfur in the Everglades ecosystem were transforming the mercury into methylmercury, and it was bioaccumulating through the food chain.

The switch is important not only because the new fuel reduces the amount of soot particles and airborne sulfur, a component of ozone and smog.

Since current technologies for reducing sulfur are complicated and costly, some refiners are unsure just how they will meet the new requirements.

Yet they are encouraged by the effort to reduce sulfur in diesel fuel.

New regulations are about to be proposed to reduce sulfur even more, to 30 parts per million, from 300.