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Biofuel from Bacteria
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BIOFUEL FROM BACTERIA!With rising fuel prices, our economy is starting to feel the strain. More important than that, our fossil fuels are running out. How will we heat our homes, put the fuel in planes and cars and run our hospitals when there's no more oil?Well, a company called LS9 have recently discovered a remedy for this...by using bug poo! LS9 have altered the genes of tiny bugs so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they excrete crude oil.... yes, really!  These bugs are single-cell organisms (meaning they only have one cell; humans are multi-cellular, therefore we have lots of cells and are more complicated) and are about a fraction of a billionth of the size of an ant...That's pretty small! They start out as industrial yeast or non-pathogenic (which means that they can't carry disease) strains of E.coli, but when LS9 modifies their genes, they pretty much excrete crude oil! The 'excretion' made by yeast or E.coli during fermentation is only a few 'molecular stages' away from crude oil. That means that it's almost the same as crude oil, so it does not take too much altering to get the crude oil.  Greg Pal, senior director of LS9 said: "Five to seven years ago, this process would have taken months and cost hundreds of dollars, now it can take weeks and cost maybe $20, 000". "Our plan is to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010". What's great about this is that, unlike other alternative energies such as hydrogen fuel, wind power or solar, they've made a product that is interchangeable with oil (this means that engines don't have to be modified to use the new fuel). Growing the bugs and harvesting the oil Another great thing about it is that, unlike coal or oil, it won't be a limited source that takes billions of years to regenerate.  The other great thing about this fuel is that the food that the bacteria eats can be changed to suit whichever climate it needs, as long as it can be broken down into sugars. This fuel called 'Oil 2.0' is not only renewable but it's also carbon negative; a tricky term to understand but means that it produces less carbon dioxide (CO2) than it uses in the production of the fuel.  This means it's not pouring CO2 into our atmosphere's at the rate of other oils. The oil produced by the bugs floats at the top Today, we live in a society that is very dependant on petroleum. Everyday items such as chewing gum, ink, crayons, dishwashing liquid, eye glasses, tyres, deodorants and many more require petroleum to be made. This means that this new biofuel is great news to helping our planet's condition. We think this is one of the most exciting and innovative developments we've read about. A 1000 litre pilot fermentor (AKA 'bug-poo maker') To find out more about LS9 and their amazing Oil 2.0, go to: www.ls9.com
Thanks to the very helpful Tim Gnatek (bluepractice.com) By Imogen Wadlow Information sourced from: http://www.ls9.com/ The Times; 'It's crude, but bug poo may replace oil' Chris Ayres; 2008 |
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