Scientists create bacteria that eat junk, produce oil
A company called LS9 is creating nearly pump-ready oil using single-celled bacteria. They start with industrial yeast organisms or "non-pathogenic strains of E. coli," and redesign their DNA so that they produce a different kind of waste. Crude oil is not far removed, molecularly, from the fatty acids expelled by yeast or E. coli during fermentation, so a little bit of DNA alteration bypasses the fatty acids and produces "Oil 2.0."The "bugs" can be fed a variety of feedstock, from politically sensitive corn to Brazilian sugar cane to California wheat straw to Southern wood chips. The result is the same: crude oil that is almost ready to pour into your car. What's more: the enterprise is carbon negative, putting out less CO2 than the operation requires. At the moment it takes a 1,000-liter fermentation machine one week to make a 40-gallon drum of crude.
It will be a moment before they have a seamless industrial-sized operation. And there is that little concern of hundreds of billions of genetically-altered critters getting free and wreaking havoc on kids and puppies. But the promise of a steady supply of safely created $40 oil -- because even the Volt will need oil -- is not a bad thing to consider. Thanks for the tip, Brad!
[Source: Times Online via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Pacman 9:39AM (6/18/2008)
This is awsome but good luck producing billions of gallons of oil this way. I cant see that as a possibility, but who knows.
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Ligor 8:18AM (6/19/2008)
i bet this company will be bought out by the oil giants in no time.
in 1-2 years you will wonder whatever happened to that oil producing bacteria claim and you won't even be able to find much of anything on it in google
About 1year ago the US Air Force claimed they have a battery they can market in two years time that will not need re-charging for up to 30years. One year already gone have never heard of theproject again, but I can still find it in goodle, so I'll give it another year to see if we ever hear of it
Tai 9:41AM (6/18/2008)
That's great. Wonder how much it will affect agriculture later. Corn, sugar, and wheat will perhaps be luxury items.
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Injected 9:45AM (6/18/2008)
All of the "End Scenario Speculators" need to read up on permaculture. This is the case that has been made by alcohol enthusiasts and producers for over one hundred years. Welcome to the 19th century.
Big Rocket 12:46PM (6/18/2008)
Tai: If you had read the article, you would know it already addressed your concerns.
Times Online UK: "The company [LS9] is not interested in using corn as feedstock, given the much-publicised problems created by using food crops for fuel, such as the tortilla inflation that recently caused food riots in Mexico City. Instead, different types of agricultural waste will be used according to whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy: wheat straw in California, for example, or woodchips in the South."
To put it simply, they are recycling waste products into oil.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece
mk 10:13AM (6/18/2008)
If they can be fed organic GARBAGE, maybe.
If they require acres of arable land to grow crops for fuel, rather than food, then it is not yet a positive.
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hashiryu 10:47AM (6/18/2008)
I honestly thought the proposal was for them to be fed garbage. Anything using Corn or Straw as the input to make fuel I am not a fan of. It is a terribly stupid idea and a dangerous trend which could potentially screw humanity over before lack of oil does. It boggles the mind how people do not see this.
If this is what they plan, it is almost as stupid as ethanol.
At least this way, when there is a plant explosion, billions of these little buggers escape and eat all the crops in a 1000 mile radius, and they will probably test their apetitie on humans too maybe? Here come the ZPAW lol
BigMcLargeHuge 11:09AM (6/18/2008)
Steady...
There is a big difference between the usefulness of straw and corn.
If it can run on straw, it can probably run off of any simple grass. You don't need prime farmland for grass. We could separate food from fuel production with the right combination of science and politics.
You do need prime farmland for corn, and they should just leave corn out of the fuel business.
The problem is, the Corn Producers of America are more powerful a political interest group than I think most people realize. They are the ones lobbying for more ethanol use at the pumps, and producing false data for their state legislatures that its actually a viable fuel (NOT!!!)
Big Corn likes the fact that ethanol gets a part of the skyrocketing fuel costs. Tie food to fuel, and the more either goes up, the more money they make.
Even if this science works, the producers of it will likely have suiters both from Big Oil and Big Corn to play ball to keep prices high. And some states might buy it hook, line and sinker.
Oil in the ground did not originate from corn or sugarcane. It was likely dead leaves from rainforests and rotting bogs. We can replicate this, and produce food simultaneously, at low cost, if we are politically wise to the fact that the corn distillers won't give up their stock in the fuel industry without a fight.
Dan 9:44AM (6/18/2008)
WOOT!!! The only thing is; How much fuel does it take to transport the Brazilian sugar cane, Calfornian wheat straw, and Southern wood chips to the factory that has the bacteria, and concequently ship the produced fuel to gas stations around the world???
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BigMcLargeHuge 9:53AM (6/18/2008)
Probably about the same as it takes to ship the cane/corn to ethanol distilleries. Difference is, those are carbon-neutral at best.
They were giving a range 'from corn to cane to straw to wood chips'. From starchy to cellulosic.
Wheat straw is practically a by-product. Straw in general gets used as 'chaff' or 'hay'. Basically they are saying it will run on grass. Don't know if the quality of the output is affected by the starting material, but I won't mind running the grade that gets made from yard clippings.
cheezwiz 10:21AM (6/18/2008)
Just build some plants in the Amazon. Then, rather than slashing and burning all the trees to make room for sugar cane, the Brazilians can just feed the trees to the bacteria and make even more fuel.
Torrent 2:48PM (6/18/2008)
Then we'll have a war in Brazil over some sugar.... how much more ridiculous does it get?
Cary 4:18AM (6/20/2008)
Torrent, your posts are usually entertaining and relevant. But this one makes you a douche. Good work.
Injected 9:46AM (6/18/2008)
Smaller scaled plants spread out and closer to the consumer base will be more efficient.
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Nuieve 11:08PM (6/18/2008)
Portable plants (the size of a large fridge) would do. I don't mind having one in my garage producing a tank of gas every week. :)
Fred 9:50AM (6/18/2008)
I'll believe it when it's in a scientific paper and it's proven viable and scalable. The same company came out with similar news a year ago. Until then, they're taking advantage of the current market and fishing for venture capitalists.
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Injected 9:52AM (6/18/2008)
No doubt they are feeding on the current climate. Hopefully it is not just vaporware. It's worth looking/investing into. If it works, it may scare down the price of oil, just like synthetic gasoline did almost thirty years ago.
Rick 5:31PM (6/18/2008)
Wow, cool tech. I'm sure they can work out the other issues once this becomes a viable production process.
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Bart 9:52AM (6/18/2008)
This is what I've been saying will be the future for a while now. This same bacteria will be applied to process algae, and not valuable crops. And algae can be produced at an amazing rate.
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dcwf 9:53AM (6/18/2008)
... and how much water will that concoction use? Next thing you know, water will be selling for $140/barrel. With all of its melting glaciers, Perhaps Iceland will become the next Dubai!
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