[Toasty]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/envi...icle4133668.ece

Basically, scientists have modified bugs to excrete crude oil out of their asses instead of....well, you get the point.

Not a viable source of petroleum right now, but it's possible that in the future, a farm of these bugs will be able to produce a decent amount of crude oil every year. Though I doubt we'll ever be able to rely solely on them for oil. It'll make what we've got last a few more decades though.

[Ironsight]

Wow, this is great. If only we could make bigger bugs. I doubt this will get us off buying from the Middle East completely though.

[Gio]

Let's just get like a thousand colonies and collect their sh** everyday. lol

But in all seriousness, this would be awesome.

[Toasty]

@DS That's what ANWR, oil-drenched shale, coal, and off-shore drilling are for. :P

We have 21.76 billion barrels of oil, most of which we're not using *coughliberalsandtreehuggerscough*. Canada has 178.8 billion. I don't see why we can't at least be importing oil from Canada instead of Saudi Arabia. At least then we wouldn't be supplying our enemies, even if we weren't fully relying on our own reserves.

Anyway, this topic is about insects that crap petroleum. Not pollitics.

[Ironsight]

Toasty, on Jun 19 2008, 10:11 PM, said:

@DS That's what ANWR, oil-drenched shale, coal, and off-shore drilling are for. :P

Yeah, but I don't think we'll be using those any time soon.

[Blue]

So basicly we found something esle for oil we won't use? How lovely.

[Shikonaurum]

I loff oil. <3

That's pretty cool. Those bacteria are pretty amazing; most of them are, granted. This is almost like alternative energy!

[Ironsight]

It's amazing that we can even do things like this now. 10 years ago people would think you were un-realisticly ambitious.

[Toasty]

Blue, on Jun 20 2008, 01:57 AM, said:

So basicly we found something esle for oil we won't use? How lovely.

Who's to say we won't use it? It's not "killing the polar bears," and as of yet there's no law that says it's illegal to create crude oil using bacteria.

[Blue]

Your forgetting the conspiracy that were suppose to be running out of oil. xD

[Split Infinity]

Not to mention that burning of oil causes pollution/warming...

[Caael]

Instead of an intelligent respsonse, I choose to opt for a picture

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/02_1/polarbrsDM010207_468x762.jpg

[Ironsight]

POLAR BEARS DROWNDING!!11!1

[Lightning Star]

...*sigh* Not even going to go there.

It's good that we're finding new ways to run our cars and heat our houses, but I will be really excited once they come up with an alternative energy source all together. I agree with Toasty that we should start using our own reserves, since that kind of technology is not far off, and I'm sure all us United Statesians are tired of paying $4 for a gallon of gas (*RAISES HAND* I know I am.)

Interesting discovery, but I'd rather that those intelligent scientists put their brains into creating a stable energy source rather than something that might fuel one car for a week.

[Golden Legacy]

The Americans pay $4 per gallon, Europeans pay the equivalent of more than 9 Euros. =/

That said, this is something more "neat" than what I would use to power the nation's infrastructure. An interesting scientific endeavour to be sure, but not something that should be invested in as the "wave of the future".

[Drizzy Drake]

Us Canadians pay, at the moment, $1.32 a litre. Somebody do the conversion of litres to gallons, to find out who pays more. I'm too lazy.

[Nyktos]

$1.32/litre is about $5/gallon. Yes, I was bored enough to actually do it.

[Blue]

Its because no one likes Canada. xD

[Split Infinity]

*gazes up at $1.70 petrol sign*

D:

[Toasty]

Golden Legacy, on Jun 30 2008, 06:02 PM, said:

The Americans pay $4 per gallon, Europeans pay the equivalent of more than 9 Euros. =/

That said, this is something more "neat" than what I would use to power the nation's infrastructure. An interesting scientific endeavour to be sure, but not something that should be invested in as the "wave of the future".

Better han investing money in wind power...... <.<;

ANYWAY. This is more of a way to stretch out our reserves than to keep gasoline as a viable ful forever.

[Lightning Star]

Oh, I know the Europeans pay more for their gas, but things are also a bit closer, ne? Or is that just my American Ignorance talking? XD

It sounds like a good deal. Just as long as I don't have bugs landing on me and spraying oil on my clothes, I'm good :o

[Toasty]

Well, it's actually bacteria, and the bacteria is kept in tanks until they dispose of them and kill them so.....

Don't think that'll be a problem.

[Ironsight]

Genetically modified porjects like this are created sterile, so even if an animal were to escape into the wild it wouldn't be able to reproduce.

[Lightning Star]

Ah. Yeah, see, I didn't read the article 'cause I'm lazy like that :o

so yeah. Yay, no bacterial oil stains on my shirt. Good, good. It's fascinating that they can come up with something like this though!

[Split Infinity]

Well, we are teenagers, it's kind of hard to avoid getting oil on our skin. :/

[Golden Legacy]

Toasty, on Jul 1 2008, 01:14 AM, said:

Better han investing money in wind power...... <.<;

[/conservative ignorance for the fail]

At any rate:

Using genetically modified bugs for fermentation is essentially the same as using natural bacteria to produce ethanol, although the energy-intensive final process of distillation is virtually eliminated because the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready.

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.

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.

Looks like it will take quite a bit of time before it's viable to be used on a nation-wide basis. Still, it's a neat breakthrough.

[Saturos S.]

The European price per gallon should actually be even higher, but because of the weak dollar, the gallon prices are "cheaper".

Are the American oil prices a low because of government funding?

[Toasty]

Golden Legacy, on Jul 1 2008, 12:50 PM, said:

[/conservative ignorance for the fail]

At any rate:

Using genetically modified bugs for fermentation is essentially the same as using natural bacteria to produce ethanol, although the energy-intensive final process of distillation is virtually eliminated because the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready.

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.

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.

Looks like it will take quite a bit of time before it's viable to be used on a nation-wide basis. Still, it's a neat breakthrough.

It's a product of silicon valley. The fastest developing area in terms of technology.

Though that applies more to silicon than bacteria. :unsure:


And like I said GL, I wouldn't expect this to do anything more than lengthen the usefulness of internal combustion engines by more than a few decades (by adding a bit to our oil resources). And that statistic is for as it stands now. I wouldn't be surprised if it dropped to 50 square miles within a year or two from now. It could then supply one fifth of the US's oil needs by using around 10 square miles of space. Which would be that big of a deal.

Though 10 square miles providing 20% of the United States' oil needs would be something.


Personally though, it'll probably take a year or two more than my prediction. Mostly because of environmentalist Liberals.



As for the bacteria creating ethanol.....

Ethanol contains far less energy per gallon than oil, and in this case, it would also need to be refined. Thus producing far less energy than the petroleum excreteing bacteria they're using right now.

[inthenameofDT]

or we could drill alaska, like we bought it for

[Toasty]

That too.

Too bad the dang environmentalists (who are a minority, mind you) are preventing that.

[inthenameofDT]

i know, it's ridiculous. Alaska has essentially been a waste to us since we haven't even touched its oil

[Toasty]

All we need for drilling is a spot of land of less than 5 square miles. Plus, it's un-inhabited by any endangered species. Yet we STILL can't drill there. WTF is up with that?


And now China's going to start drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. For some reason, they don't seem to think that's a problem. Yet they have a problem with Americans, who have stricter regulations (wich means the whole thing will be safer for the environment and the workers), drilling in the same area.