Re: Turning petroleum into food!
2 wrote:
> The global food crisis demands that we recycle old ideas.
>
> http :// md1.csa,com /partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid 070650244928MT&q=&uidy1974967&setcookie=yes
>
> Biodegradation of petroleum via fermentation.
>
> Liu, D
> Biotechnology (pp. 103-134)
> 1985
> Cheremisinoff PN and Ouellette RP (Eds)
>
> The growth of microorganisms on petroleum hydrocarbons has received
> considerably attention because of the possibility of producing
> single-cell-protein from petroleum for animal feed or human food uses.
> Moreover, the prospects of utilizing hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms
> for the treatment of refinery waste as well as for the clean-up of oil spill
> have promoted research endeavors in various aspects of petroleum
> biodegradation. Because of the voluminous research on the subject of
> petroleum biodegradation, no attempt will be made to carry out an exhaustive
> search and review of all the literature. Instead, this chapter will focus on
> the practical aspects of petroleum biodegradation and the related processes.
> The literature data will be presented in 12 tables and it is hoped that this
> approach will assist in coalescing the diverse subjects into a coherent
> framework, which will be useful to scientists and engineers in the field of
> petroleum fermentation.
>
> ///
>
> The current craze to turn food stock into fuel is evocative of some kinds of
> metabolic disregulation. Enzymatic evolution eliminated such useless cycles
> eons ago. Mother Gaia is surely displeased with the current generation of
> environmentalists. Maybe she will cleanse the earth with fire or ice, this
> time.
This suggests a new pinnacle of environmental achievement: turning
petroleum into biomass, converting that into petroleum and that in
turn back into biomass...etc unto infinity.
Each stage of the process would of course be heavily subsidized by tax-
payers, and it could continue forever without producing anything of
value, save an inelegant thermodynamic downward spiral.