[davidwatsonok]

Originally Posted by Link

Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4133668.ece

[Mac Man]

I think we'll be seeing some significant advances in bio fuels over the next few years.

Silicon Valley is pumping billions of $ into renewable energies, from what I read in New Scientist magazine a few weeks ago.

Creating ethanol from the agricultural waste of crops and other planet friendly sources is only the start. The current price of oil maybe just the catalyst the whole renewable energy business needs to make the next leap. It often takes a crisis (like WWII) to create quantum leaps in technology. Consider that we went from flying bi-planes in 1938 to jet fighters within a few years.

[Corey USA]

working with e-coli is a disaster in the making. Ask your self have you ever heard of a company who hasn't dumped illegally or had an accidental spill?

E-coli is not to be messed with.

[Bilbob]

If you read the article, it's a non-pathogenic strain of e-coli, not the well known and lethal variant.

And very, very promising!

[tapzilla2k]

Originally Posted by Corey USA

working with e-coli is a disaster in the making. Ask your self have you ever heard of a company who hasn't dumped illegally or had an accidental spill?

E-coli is not to be messed with.

I've handled a number of E-Coli strains in the Biology lab, and they are perfectly safe as long as you follow the proper procedures for handling the strains and the disposal of the waste they produce.
You could say the same thing about fire, had our ancestors not experimented with it, we'd not have got very far scientifically.
There is always a degree of risk in science, you just have to balance those risks against the benefits. Nuclear Fusion is more risky than mucking about with E-Coli to make oil products -
http://www.iter.org/

You will always have the odd company here and there that dump waste illegally to save money, however if you keep the fines and other punishments severe enough most will toe the line.

[JagoPlasma]

Originally Posted by tapzilla2k

You will always have the odd company here and there that dump waste illegally to save money, however if you keep the fines and other punishments severe enough most will toe the line.

or even offer to buy the waste as an incentive