Eco Factor: Bacteria to produce liquid fuels directly from hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
A team of researchers from the North Carolina State University and the University of Georgia are working together to create a version of the Extremophile, a super bug that creates butanol or ethanol. The bug would skip the entire photosynthetic sugar-making step and would create liquid fuels directly from hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
The idea is to feed hydrogen and carbon dioxide to the bug, which will then generate biofuel. Hydrogen will be generated from natural gas, which has been discovered in great quantities in the U.S. and elsewhere recently. Extremophiles will be able to live without water and will be highly resistant to radiation, which makes them ideal for biofuel production.
Via: Treehugger
