Genetically Altered Bugs to Cure America’s Oil Addiction?

Scientists have created genetically altered bugs that eat agricultural waste and excrete crude oil, the Times reports.  The bugs are single-celled organisms that begin as nonpathogenic strains of E. coli or industrial yeast whose DNA is then modified, according to researchers at LS9, one of several companies researching the oil potential of the bacteria.  Almost any raw material that can be broken down into sugars can be used to feed the bugs, so “different types of agricultural waste will be used according to whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy: wheat straw in California, for example, or woodchips in the South,” the article explains.  Unlike other alternative fuel plans, the product is essentially interchangeable with oil, and thus would not require any dramatic restructuring of the economy.

What’s more, Engadget notes, scientists say the process involving the bugs is carbon-negative: that is, the carbon output is less than the carbon required to produce it.

The problem faced by researchers is how to achieve large scale production.  While LS9 has been able to produce the oil in its laboratories, matching the United States’ consumption rate of 143 barrels per week would require a production facility that spanned about 205 square miles, an area approximately the size of Chicago.

“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,” Greg Pal, a senior director at LS9, told the Times. He added that if Brazilian sugar cane were as feedstock, the LS9 fuel price could be as low as $50 a barrel.  Compared to today’s oil prices, that is one worth looking into.