Scientists Engineer Bacteria to Poop Diesel Fuel
For centuries, humans have used bacteria to make beer, ethanol and a host of other substances, but now scientists have figured out how to engineer bacteria that excretes a substance that is essentially diesel fuel.
A biotech company called LS9 has successfully engineered bacteria to produce the fuel on a small scale, and the products fed to the bacteria can be anything from wood chips to plant waste, so the process avoids the worst complications of corn-based ethanol.
Don’t get too excited, though. It will be years, possibly decades before you’ll be able to fill up your car with bacteria waste. The problem is one of scale: Manufacturing a few molecules here and there is simple; creating a widespread system to grow and distribute fuel to cars will require a much larger undertaking than anyone has suggested so far. But don’t you feel better for having read about it anyway?
