You all know I don't post much during the work day, but I saw this and couldn't resist. THIS is where our science should be looking; how innovative, without being ostentatious.
Scientists Find Microbes That Eat Garbage, Excrete Crude Oil
I'm not saying abandon other forward-looking ideas like hydrogen fuel cells or advanced solar or whatever, but let's face it: those technologies are still years or decades away from being self-sustaining and productive. Ideas like this one could provide a helpful stopgap as we continue to wean ourselves toward cleaner energy sources (or at least, making this particular energy source cleaner). If this could hold itself up, it could become a boon for the entire world. Imagine: petroleum could become so plentiful, it would become almost meaningless. Heating oil, gasoline, jet fuel, all those costs would plummet, making the prices of nearly everything go back down to reasonable levels. Seeing as the article references agricultural waste, farmers would have yet another source of income that could offset the government subsidies they continue to receive. Third-world farmers could sell their waste to the oil "producers," further enriching themselves.
If someone takes this idea further and finds a microbe that eats crude oil and excretes high-octane gasoline, we're all set.
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