Here is another article about researches using genetically altered microbes to produce crude oil ready for a refinery. This one uses Yeasts or e. Coli to process anything with enough sugar or simple carbohydrates. The process of fermentation doesn’t produce methanol, but crude oil-like hydrocarbons. The microbes already produce fatty acids and alcohols, and hydrocarbons are only a short hop away. It was relatively easy to tweak the DNA so that they produced refineable crude.

Describing the task of modifying the microbes, Greg Pal of the LS9 company said: “Five to seven years ago, that process would have taken months and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Now it can take weeks and cost maybe $20,000.”

I can’t find any financial information on LS9.

My previous post was about a genetically engineered algae and it required sunlight. This iteration might make use of e. Coli and I can see it feeding from diary and meat byproducts such as cow and chicken manure. It it used yeast, it could feed off of any mulch created from farm byproducts such as stalks, stems and leaves. My community has a leaf pickup, imagine these leaves and branches being chipped and added to a slurry which produces crude oil.

Why aren’t we doing this? Why are politicians talking about opening up Alaska to drilling when we can produce crude naturally?