Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

The Times (UK) ^ | June 14, 2008 | Chris Ayres

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

There is this also ... FR Thread:

Biofuel 2.0 gets off ground in Kiwi airliner trial ( Oily desert nuts juice up righteous jumbo )

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The Register (UK) ^ | Friday 6th June 2008 11:43 GMT | Lewis Page

Air New Zealand has announced that its planned airliner biofuel test will be carried out using biodiesel made from jatropha nuts. Jatropha plants, able to survive in deserts, could offer a biofuel source which would not compete with food production or drive deforestation.

"Air New Zealand is absolutely committed to being at the forefront of testing environmentally sustainable fuels," said the airline's chief, Rob Fyfe, quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The test will be carried out later this year, using a Boeing 747 with engines from Rolls Royce. Boeing has been at the forefront of an industry push toward alternative fuels since last year, following soaring rises in the price of ordinary fossil jet fuel.

Earlier tests have seen aircraft running without problems on synthetics made from natural gas and coal, and Virgin partnered with Boeing earlier this year to power a jumbo using coconut and palm oils.

All of these efforts have drawn criticism, however. Alternate fossil fuels, while they could offer some security of supply and price, have no ecological benefits - quite the reverse, actually, as a tonne of gas or coal is burned for every tonne converted into synthetic jet juice. First-generation biofuel sources like coconut and palm are usually seen as lower-carbon - though just how much is a subject of vigorous debate - but they are also implicated in rising food prices and deforestation. It has also been credibly suggested that in any case, there just isn't enough farmland to run much transport on first-gen crop biofuel.

So-called second generation biofuels like jatropha or algae which don't need good land are seen by many in the aviation industry as their best way ahead. The technical problems of alternative propulsion for planes are much more severe than in cars, meaning that options such as battery power, hydrogen and so on aren't seen as viable.

Thus the ANZ trial is sure to be watched with interest. The airline believes it would need plantations totalling 1.25 million hectares to run entirely on jatropha. In the case of first-gen biofuel, that would equate to about 85 per cent of New Zealand's arable land, but hardy jatropha might, for instance, be grown in the deserts of Australia. There are 1.4 million square kilometres of deserts in Oz, enough to fuel a hundred airlines the size of ANZ if they were all covered in jatropha plants. ®

[hosepipe]

P.o.o.p into Diesel fuel.. what a concept..
It then must be said..

"Excrement is a terrible thing to waste.." -Hosepoop.. ugh pipe..

[randog]

They start out as industrial yeast or nonpathogenic strains of E. coli, but LS9 modifies them by custom-de-signing their DNA.

Count on the environazis nipping this in the bud like they have every other gene modification project. Should be pretty easy--"...it's the same stuff they put in hamburgers to kill your kids!!"

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I like the idea of jatropha plants.

Gives the people in arid climates something useful to grow.

[rbg81]

How about bugs who eat petrol and excrete waste? I read a sci-fi story about that once—it wasn’t pretty.

[C210N]

to substitute America’s weekly oil consumption of 143 million barrels, you would need a facility that covered about 205 square miles...

Washington DC is 64 sq miles, but I'd imagine its wasteland has now slimed into at least another 141 sq miles, so there you go!

[bpjam]

and yet the socialists are still hell bent on trying to destroy American life and capitalism as the ‘solution’ instead of letting truly smart people create better alternatives.

I’ve always said it. Real science can solve problems. (But it has to be ‘real’ science)

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

And perhaps, with a little genetic engineering, so could we!

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Do you realize what this would do to the economy of the Arab nations?
}:{>

[ken21]

not to worry,

if its for real and works,

the democrats will make sure it doesn’t get to the market.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

I wonder if we keep digging, maybe we’ll find the bugs that excreted the original petroleum.

[UCANSEE2]

Two holer porta-john’s, with some wheels, a small diesel engine, and synthetic ‘bugs’.

Poop your way down the highway.

[Eaglefixer]

The Russians and other geologist have a theory that crude is not a fossil fuel but is generated deep underground by microbes. My niece, who is a geologist confirmed this theory. Thus oil is a naturally renewable resource.

[indthkr]

limitless oil bump for later..........

[CPOSharky]

Oh, no. Frankenfuel. Frankenfuel. We must ban it now! (/s)

[Dog Gone]

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

I don't know about Chicago, but replacing Detroit might be a good idea.

[samtheman]

Poop your way down the highway.

And if your car stalls you can just give it a quick poop-start.

[the invisib1e hand]

the carbon footprint people will be at the throat of peta/insect division people.

[cake_crumb]

Now that is INTERESTING. Ironic too, if successful.

[varon]

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 don't necessarily have to substitute the total oil consumption. Perhaps we could start with a facility the size of Detroit, which I'm willing to donate, because it's doing nothing but sucking up oxygen now, anyway ;-)