The answer to $140 oil: bug poo
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What's good about their plan is that it turns out a product that is interchangeable with the system that already exists. Instead of having to convert the US' fuel infrastructure to hydrogen stations, or quick charging electrical outlets, LS9 just has to figure out how to ferment enough bug poop to supplement the oil supply. At this point, they plan to use waste products like wood chips and wheat straw for feedstock -- so oil 2.0 is thankfully not a crop fuel.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? OK, there's always the chance that these micro-bugs could escape and reek havoc on all sorts of local ecosystems, but at this point there's no reason to think that they're a threat. Not when people are willing to do almost anything to pay less for gas.
If LS9 is successful, they expect their crude to be produced at about $50 a barrel. They plan to have a "demonstration scale production plant" up and running by 2010.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-18-2008 @ 11:28PM
L33tminion said...
If LS9 is successful, they expect their crude to be produced at about $50 a barrel.
Right, but they won't sell it at much less than ordinary crude (assuming it's the same high-quality stuff).
The real question is if they'll be able to produce enough of the stuff to depress the price of crude oil. For comparison's sake, Ghawar (the largest oil field in the world) produces on the order of 4 million barrels per day. I'd guess they'd have to bring at least a few percent of that capacity online yearly to make a significant economic impact.
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