Can Bugs Solve a Crude Problem

Every once in a while I come across a business news story that leaves me wishing I had paid more attention in my science lessons…

A fascinating news piece in The Times describes how scientists and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are experimenting with bacteria that have been genetically altered to provide ‘renewable petroleum’ from waste.

Thats right. Scientists are developing bugs that eat waste - and excrete crude oil. Not a lot of it, to be sure. But enough to make US investors excited about the future returns from such a production process.

I’m not sure how I would go about investing in such an opportunity, though my instinct says it would be worth putting £10,000 down as a long-term bet.

More importantly, from my perspective, is the encouraging feeling I get that, with examples such as this, mankind will find a way to solve the problem of renewable energy and climate change. The bugs that are excreting crude oil are clever little critters, but not half as clever as the scientists who created them.