Scientists in Silicon Valley have discovered a way to genetically modify bugs to consume waste material and excrete crude oil.

The bugs feed on agricultural scraps such as wheat straw or woodchips and produce oil that can be refined into petroleum for engines.

LS9 is one of many companies in or around Silicon Valley working on this technology. The company says that not only will this new fuel dubbed “Oil 2.0″ be renewable, it will also be carbon negative. They claim that the carbon that is emitted is less than that from which it is made.

The bugs are single-cell organisms, each one only a fraction of a billionth the size of an ant. They start out as nonpathogenic strains of E. coli or industrial yeast and have their DNA modified.

Apparently it does not take much work to make the necessary changes as crude oil is only a few molecular stages removed from the normally excreted fatty acids.

LS9 has managed to produce a 1,000-litre fermenting machine that can pump out around one barrel a week. It takes up 40 sq ft of floor space and looks much like a large stainless-steel jar.

In order to replace America’s 143 million barrels of weekly oil consumption, they would need a factory around the size of Chicago – about 205 square miles.

“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, senior director of LS9. He added that if Brazilian sugar cane were to be used as its feedstock, the cost of the resulting crude would cost around $50 a barrel – almost a third of the price of traditional crude.

Source:
TimesOnline