 Bacillus Specie Soil Bacteria Silicon Valley is experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide ‘renewable petroleum’.
“Ten years ago I could never have imagined I’d be doing this,” says
Greg Pal, 33, a former software executive, as he squints into the late
afternoon Californian sun. “I mean, this is essentially agriculture,
right? But the people I talk to – especially the ones coming out of
business school – this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into.”
He means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs –
very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste
such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They
excrete crude oil.
Unbelievably, this is not science
fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could,
theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to
us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month
before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable
petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world”.
Mr Pal is a senior director of LS9, one of several companies in or
near Silicon Valley that have spurned traditional high-tech activities
such as software and networking and embarked instead on an
extraordinary race to make $140-a-barrel oil (£70) from Saudi Arabia
obsolete. “All of us here – everyone in this company and in this
industry, are aware of the urgency,” Mr Pal says.
more
Read More: Next Nature
Last update : 01-08-2008 18:10
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Keywords : petroleum, extraordinary, theoretically, agricultural, unbelievably, agriculture, californian, essentially, traditional, world, activities, alteration, networking, afternoon, companies, excretion, executive, renewable, something, woodchips, business, director, embarked, everyone, imagined, |
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