Junk+Bacteria=Oil

[DGthe3]

autoblog

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!

[theholycow]

This is very cool.

Another similar idea: There's a few companies researching/testing using algae on raw sewage to make fuel. The algae feed on the sewage, treating/cleaning it until it's almost good enough to irrigate farms, and then they are harvested and made into biodiesel (and probably can be made into ethanol too).
http://www.aquaflowgroup.com/technology.html

[Mr. Wyndham]

So we've got this, and the Algae method via Sapphire Energy...
hmmmmm, can anyone see a trend starting to occur?

[Rallysport]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

So we've got this, and the Algae method via Sapphire Energy...
hmmmmm, can anyone see a trend starting to occur?

If all of this works, what will poor Al Gore have to whine about????

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Rallysport

If all of this works, what will poor Al Gore have to whine about????

By then he'll be able to whine about the global warming that happened as a result of all the hot air he's provided by whining so much...

[theholycow]

Ok, so after posting that, I closed the forum tab, and behind it was a google tab. I was trying to look for a screenshot reference translating good old fashioned menus as found in all previous versions of Microsoft Office to the godawful Ribbon bullshit in Office 2007. I guess I was still thinking about making fuel out of sewage, because when I saw this:



I read "Customizing the 2007 Office Effluent Ribbon"...how appropriate.

[Chevyrocker]

Originally Posted by Rallysport

If all of this works, what will poor Al Gore have to whine about????

manbearpig...

[09'Z28]

Originally Posted by jsenn

manbearpig...

imaginationland as well, it's polluting our world

[boxmonkeyracing]

Originally Posted by Rallysport

If all of this works, what will poor Al Gore have to whine about????

He will still cry and complain we are polluting the air with our oil based products. and still claim he invented the internet.