I was reading a friends blog today and I saw he's linked to a truly fascinating news article about Scientists who have managed to genetically modify bugs in such a way that they consume waste and produce crude oil.
I'm of two minds regarding this 'discovery'. On the one hand it's great knowing that there could effectively be an unlimited supply of crude oil in the world - could this be the start of the road to free energy? Could this possibly mean an end to wars and and rivalry over oil rich countries?
However, I do have my concerns. Is this really the best thing for the environment - yes, it's a way of recycling our waste. It's also a means of gaining oil without the hassle of drilling and pumping and who knows whatever else - but is it sustainable for the environment and planet - do we really want to continue to have cars that pump out masses of CO2 or, would we prefer to find alternatives such as hydrogen power etc? Another interesting question - how much oil can these bugs really produce - too little, or as one critique on the news article says "Suppose some of these bugs mysteriously got out of the laboratory and into the environment. Would they not continue to behave in a similar fashion outside the petrie dish? So now everything around them would slowly be converted to oil. How is this scenario "environmentally friendly"?". Then there are the moral grounds - is it right to genetically modify bugs for such things? Should we be playing God?
Overall I think it's an interesting step, and it may even be a step in the right direction towards sustainable, environmentally friendly fuel - but I still think we've got a long way to go.
While we should not be promoting oil consumption, oil produced in this manner does not contribute to global warming. The CO2 released burning this kind of oil is CO2 that was already in the atmosphere.
Posted by Brian Utterback on June 19, 2008 at 06:54 PM BST #
What is wrong with promoting oil consumption, assuming this works, in light of the fact the CO2 released was taken from the atmosphere?
That being said, I'm "one of those nutjobs" who think our concerns about CO2 heating the planet are radically overblown.
Posted by James Olson on June 21, 2008 at 04:04 PM BST #
Thanks for the comments guys.
With regards to the CO2 output - indeed, I see that the CO2 was 'removed' from the atmosphere and thus doesn't exactly contribute to the increases in CO2 - however, do we not think that it'd still be better to investigate other energy forms that don't release CO2 - even 'recycled' CO2??
I didn't say that I thought it was a bad idea - I just raised a few questions and opinions - some of which I agree with, some of which I disagree with. As I said, I think it is an interesting step, and may be a step in the right direction, but we've still got a way to go until we get there - wherever there may be ;)
Posted by Michael Clarke on June 22, 2008 at 12:25 PM BST #