New Oil Source

HungryJoe

Scientists have actually developed bugs that can excrete crude oil. Is this for real? Do you think it would be profitable, or would the process use more energy than it creates? Can you believe how it would change things if this actually worked the way they think it will?

Diagoras

If it is true, nothing will change. The oil industry is only interested in maintaining the current model. My father works as an oil operator for Anadarko, and according to him, they are quite content selling oil they extract traditionally to their various clients. It is profitable, and it is most likely cheaper than raising bugs. You would need an inordinate amount of bugs to do this sort of thing.

Apreche

Let's say best case scenario, the bugs work. We would need to create gigantic bug farms, and feed the bugs something, to get them to poop out the oil. In the end, we would still have an oil economy, but the oil would come from a different place. If we're going to use oil, we might as well use all the already made oil that is just sitting underground first, because that is the most efficient means.

a1s

wow that is amazing!
I mean the bugs can actually turn carbon atoms into something else! An organic alternative to giant high-energy colliders , is by my count a discovery of the century.
Actually the article contains a number of such strange facts (for example the claim to refine Crude Oil into Petroleum, or the claim that producing more cheaper oil will help with global warming).

Finally some of you might be interested to know that we today know how to make natural gas [-like substance] out of cow excrements, and crude oil out of pig ones, however the prices of gasoline are going up every day, so don't get your hopes up.

ladyobsolete

If it is true, nothing will change. The oil industry is only interested in maintaining the current model. My father works as an oil operator forAnadarko, and according to him, they are quite content selling oil they extract traditionally to their various clients. It is profitable, and it is most likely cheaper than raising bugs. You would need an inordinate amount of bugs to do this sort of thing.

Is this really a matter of established oil companies embracing new technology or is it more a matter of new companies challenging old technology? Granted, a new company would be facing all the economic and political clout of the established oil industry, but a savvy startup and strong investors could give such new technology a running chance IF this discovery is actually real and economical.

Symmetry

Thats really nifty, but I don't see that as any more of a solution than moving to Ethanol would be. The energy has to come from somewhere.

Alex

I find this a promising avenue of research.

Thats really nifty, but I don't see that as any more of a solution than moving to Ethanol would be. The energy has to come from somewhere.

You have failed to consider a couple of important angles.

First, efficiency of conversion: if it takes less effort to get from agricultural product to usable fuel via bacteria-that-excrete-oil than via ethanol production, this is a win.

Second, there are uses for crude oil other than fuel, such as production of plastics. It's considerably easier to switch out the oil production alone than all of the other technologies and products that depend upon it.

If we're going to use oil, we might as well use all the already made oil that is just sitting underground first, because that is the most efficient means.

Except that energy-efficiency is not the only part of the equation. For example, much of the carbon in underground oil was pulled out of the atmosphere millions of years ago (as CO2 being inhaled by plants), at a time when the Earth was not particularly habitable to animal life; unless we have an amazing artificial means of putting it back there, I'd just as soon build our own, more closely controlled, carbon cycle.

N15PCA

Let's hope so.

Mr. Eric

I don' think people understand that even if you put 1000 energies into a bug, it's not going to give off anymore than 1000 energies. Energy could only be lost in this process.

Kilarney

I don' think people understand that even if you put 1000 energies into a bug, it's not going to give off anymore than 1000 energies.

That's fine if the energy that you put into the bug is plentiful and renewable. That's the whole point of this.

Omnutia

I don' think people understand that even if you put 1000 energies into a bug, it's not going to give off anymore than 1000 energies. Energy could only be lost in this process.

Of course you can, it's not like there are any laws against it.

Tyashki

Gee, why don't we make humans that poop oil, instead? It would completely rejuvinate the toilet industry.

Josh Bytes

Better yet just convert the world's poop into fuel.