This ought to create some interesting debate; LS9, a San Carlos, CA, based company, has developed a method of producing crude oil using genetically engineered bacteria. And it doesn’t take millions of years, like the old-fashioned natural method.
LS9’s designer bacteria eat ordinary agricultural feedstocks, then excrete hydrocarbon molecules of any length and molecular structure the company desires; hundreds of different hydrocarbon molecules can be produced by “programming” the DNA. The crude oil would then be refined in the usual way, producing gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, or any other petroleum-based product, just like the real stuff.
Testing continues, including plans for a pilot plant to be built next year to see how it works on a larger scale. Within 3 to 5 years, LS9 hopes to be manufacturing & selling not only the synthetic bio-crude, but also an improved biodiesel fuel.
What will be interesting is how this development will be received in the green community. My guess is they won’t like it much; while it sounds Earth-friendly, with crops being grown to feed bacteria (helping to offset the carbon output), a new source of oil leads to lower (or at least stabilized) fuel prices, which leads to continued use of internal combustion engines, which leads to stressed out tree huggers.