Biologist at Amyris Biotechnologies are using E. coli bacteria
to turn sugar into carbon-neutral gasoline. By adding enzyme
genes to the bacteria, carbon-absorbing crops like sugarcane can
be turned into hydrocarbons. As Amanda Schaffer says in the
article “Breeding the Oil Bug” at popsci.com: Amyris is [...]
betting that, with the help of bacteria, the long-term answer to
our gasoline woes will actually be… gasoline. Others, like
scientists at Argonne National Laboratory, believe that raw
algae used to make biocrude is the best way forward. Biocrude is
touted to be “the renewable equivalent of petroleum”. It can be
processed at existing oil refineries to make anything from
gasoline to chemical feedstocks for plastics. But our stance
remains. The answer to our climate and energy crisis is not to
make new things that can be burned in combustion engines. We
have to find entirely new approaches by using renewable and
natural energy sources like water, wind and sun. And our belief
is that electric cars are the wa