No, I am not making that up.
Link
He [Greg Pal] means bugs. To be more precise: the genetic alteration of bugs – very, very small ones – so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchips or wheat straw, they do something extraordinary. They excrete crude oil.
Unbelievably, this is not science fiction. Mr Pal holds up a small beaker of bug excretion that could, theoretically, be poured into the tank of the giant Lexus SUV next to us. Not that Mr Pal is willing to risk it just yet. He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up on what he calls “renewable petroleum”. After that, he grins, “it’s a brave new world”.
This is mind-bogglingly cool, and I highly suggest you go and read the entire article, but here's the higlights.
This new "Oil 2.0" is carbon negative. The bio material that these bugs eat suck more carbon out of the atmosphere than the bugs excretion will put back in. Also, it is completely interchangeable with current oil, meaning we wouldn't have to change our infrastructure, like we would with hydrogen cells.
What is most remarkable about what they are doing is that instead of trying to reengineer the global economy – as is required, for example, for the use of hydrogen fuel – they are trying to make a product that is interchangeable with oil. The company claims that this “Oil 2.0” will not only be renewable but also carbon negative – meaning that the carbon it emits will be less than that sucked from the atmosphere by the raw materials from which it is made.
This is the future my friends. Completely renewable, environmentally sound oil.
I'm sure someone will try to say that because we genetically engineered these bacteria, it's against God's plan for us, but I'm sure they'll change their tune when we have cheap, plentiful energy. The only question is, how will the oil companies fuck it up?