The reply to $140 oil: bug poo

According to California startup LS9, “Oil 2.0” is on the horizon — and it comes from genetically modified bugs. Reportedly, that new-fangled alternative to crude is renewable, carbon negative, and is excreted at will from LS9’s custom bacteria. Through their strange fermentation process, these little single-cell organisms can convert nearly any type of agricultural waste into “renewable petroleum.”

What’s good about their plan is that it turns out a product that is interchangeable with the system that already exists. Instead of having to convert the US’ fuel infrastructure to hydrogen stations, or quick charging electrical outlets, LS9 just has to figure out how to ferment adequate bug poop to supplement the

oil supply. At that point, they plan to use waste products like wood chips and wheat straw for feedstock — so oil 2.0 is thankfully not a crop fuel.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? OK, there’s always the chance that these micro-bugs could escape and reek havoc on all sorts of local ecosystems, but at that point there’s no reason to think that they’re a threat. Not when humans are willing to do nearly anything to pay less for gas.

If LS9 is successful, they expect their crude to be produced at about $50 a barrel. They plan to have a “demonstration scale production plant” up and running by 2010.

[Source] Josh Loposer