Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

www.timesonline.co.uk

He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.

Unbelievably, this is not science fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well then, problem solved. So is this really going to start producing oil or will this be one of those things we randomly remember 5 years from now and wonder whatever happened to it?

www.timesonline.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Yes I have heard of these. I think they're called OPEC.

According to the article, it's going to be really hard to make this a large scale operation. However, the funding is probably there to do it with oil prices as high as they are. I'm a little confused about the SUV line though...does his SUV burn crude oil instead of gas?

Very interesting. At first glance I thought this story was about J.C. Bell. He recently announced a very similar process using bacteria and biomass. The process is being looked at by the Department of Defense (which is a bit ominous) and is being promoted by several senators. Link

This process of Greg Pal sounds strangely similar to J.C.'s. I'm going to look into the 2 and see what diferences there may be.

Nice Find! s&f

Not too many scientists need bodyguards, but this one does. They aren't going to want this one to get out, the oil companies have too much to lose.

I think woodchips or wheat straw for oil is not necessarily better than say cleaner energy like solar and wind.

reply to post by leearco


This is probably the most important story in our lifetimes. If this is true it would change the face of the planet and overturn economies all over the would. It could also fix our economic problems. This story should have a thousand flags and stars. Great find!

Tell me why we should alter these bugs to give us crude oil? Do these scientists now realize what the impact could be to our environment if these things run free? What if they can mate 10x as much as before? IMO this could be a really dangerous thing to play with. If these bugs show no other alteration then we must keep them locked in a huge facility. Otherwise they could raid forests and turn them into oil...

reply to post by Equinox99


I too have reservations about this. It reminds me of an old Outer Limits (?) show where this guy got a free wish for anything he wanted. So he wished for a million dollars. (It was a while back, when a million bucks really meant a lot. ) he went home and his wife was dead and the insurance agent was standing there with a check.

The cure for our oil woes could be worse than the ailment itself.

reply to post by Equinox99


Good grief. Do you realize what this means. No more drilling. No more handing all of our money over to the middle east. Our economy cannot handle the price of oil. Do you drive? Do you buy gas?

Another thing that this implies is that oil does not require the decomposing bodies of dinosaurs to be created. It make oil a renewable resource.

Genetics are modified all the time. All creatures on earth undergo constant genetic change.

reply to post by logicize


Yes but do you understand the side effects of these alterations to the bugs? No, neither do I. What if 10-15 years from now we are all swimming in oil but all the animals and trees are dead? I did not say do not undergo with it, I simply said to keep it in a controlled facility.

Originally posted by NGC2736

The cure for our oil woes could be worse than the ailment itself.

Considering human-kind's usual behaviour when faced by quantative solutions, in that we like to take whatever advantage we can, i imagine that if we did go ahead and 'modify' bacteria to create oil, then we're probably going to end up with those bugs being relied upon far too heavily.

Plus, it kinda sounds like those things won't have any vices about eating humans, if they get the chance.

is that site a credible source?

Im not too surprised.
If we can create a human life, why not create a bug with special genes or abilities...eating waste and excrete petrol. Great topic and great post..will definitely help clean, etc.

Although...

The closest that LS9 has come to mass production is a 1,000-litre fermenting machine, which looks like a large stainless-steel jar, next to a wardrobe-sized computer connected by a tangle of cables and tubes. It has not yet been plugged in. The machine produces the equivalent of one barrel a week and takes up 40 sq ft of floor space.

Interestingly enough..

However, to substitute America’s weekly oil consumption of 143 million barrels, you would need a facility that covered about 205 square miles, an area roughly the size of Chicago.

... we have desert areas that could be irrigated for said purposes. (?)

Promising, to say the least...

“Our plan is to have a demonstration-scale plant operational by 2010 and, in parallel, we’ll be working on the design and construction of a commercial-scale facility to open in 2011,” says Mr Pal, adding that if LS9 used Brazilian sugar cane as its feedstock, its fuel would probably cost about $50 a barrel.

Havng read the article, those were the aspects and or portions which Stood out for me.

? thoughts ?





[edit on 14-6-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

reply to post by ModernAcademia


This is a credible technology MA. it's not just one group working on it either. In my post above I mentioned J.C. Bell.

With his research complete, Bell is in the process of building his pilot plants and production facilities. At the pilot plants, the bio-mass will be tested to select bacterial strains, bacterial genetic modification will be tested, revision of production protocols will be established, and a determination will be made of the best method of bio-mass conversion.

“We are exploring several locations for our pilot plants and production facilities,” Bell said. “We have the opportunity to put our plants in several locations.”

He estimated the budget for the research facility to be at $60 million annually and the production facilities at $250 to $300 million a year. He anticipates being in full scale production by October 1, 2009.

“Wherever this is located, the community will reap tremendous economic benefit,” he said.

Bell cites a number of benefits of bio-mass conversion: The energy shortage issue can be effectively addressed, it is a totally renewable energy source, it calms global warming fears, utilizes industrial waste and supports the agriculture industry.

“We can reduce the waste stream by 70 percent,” he said.

For more information e-mail questions to [email protected].

Source

As much as we are used to empty promises, the technology is real. What will be done with it, to what extent it will be implemented, and how integrated it will be with the existing big oil corporations, is what I am questioning.

[edit on 14-6-2008 by SystemiK]

reply to post by Parabol


Sounds like the abiotic theory for the origin of oil, which is what the Russians use to locate it. As a result, Russia now produces more oil than Saudia Arabia.


Duncan

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


I find this oddly reminiscient of Micheal Crichton's book by the name of prey, which involved nano-technology and the means with which the nanobots would reproduce by harvesting chemicals from the human body, eventually developing an A.I due to the foolish antics of the scientists on the scene (as is generally the case with Crichton's books).

But that's nano-tech, not micro-biology.

Other than that, i would expect serious precautions to be put in place - can you imagine what would happen if even a small batch were to be released into the outside world?

Perhaps this is why i don't like the idea of using 'bugs', we can't just turn them off or hit them with a electro-magnetic pulse or something.

It sounds like another episode of Doctor Who. He'll have to go back in time to stop them from creating this bug. Millions will die of starvation while these bugs consume everything, even people once it gets into our food chain. Crude oil will be literally coming out of our butts. What about the technology that turns algae into oil? Afterall, I have read that's where most of crude oil came from in the first place. Maybe we should just work with what we know and already have?

Since they've already done it, it's probably already too late.