| Submit your comments on this article |
| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Korean scientists develop 'super alcohol bacterium' [hic!] |
| 2004-12-13 |
| Korean scientists developed a bacterium that can produce ethanol about 20 percent more than other similar microbes, paving the way for cheaper production of the alternative fuel. Microgen Inc., a Seoul-based biotech firm, yesterday said its research team had completely decoded genes of an alcohol-making bacterium called Zymomonas mobilis for the first time ever. The researchers used the knowledge to create a new breed of the bacterium with a higher production capability than its relatives. The scientists said this "Super Alcohol Bacterium" will help develop a cheaper and more efficient method to produce ethanol, a fuel that could replace gasoline in the near future. "We will continue this research further to build a bioreactor that can quickly produce ethanol out of natural materials such as corn and timber," said Suh Jung-sun, the company's CEO. The research report will appear today on the U.S. journal Nature's Web site. The article is also scheduled for publication in the magazine's January edition. Ethanol is hailed as a completely renewable and environmentally friendly fuel. Energy experts believe that along with other alternative fuels such as hydrogen, it will help reduce the world's dependency on oil. Ethanol fuel is already available in countries such as the United States as a mixture with a small amount of gasoline. Last year, the United States produced more than 10.6 billion liters of ethanol. Experts believe the figure will rise to 18.9 billion liters by 2012. Microgen officials said the study was conducted in tandem with the medical school of Seoul National University. The company plans to seek a patent on the technology with the Korean government, as well as an international one. Formed in 1997, Microgen has mainly supplied transgenic mice to medical laboratories nationwide. It also develops DNA chips that can locate a certain DNA at very low concentrations. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 If you alternate main crop plantings with nitrogen-fixing legumes (or interplant with low-growing clovers), regularly plow in composted & sterilized sewage sludge, stop the practice of chemically sterilizing the soil before planting, and use plowing methods that don't turn the topsoil to a fine dust likely to be blown away with the first strong wind, the cropland will be fine for quite some time. Timberland is a different story, although the various Locust tree species (Black Locust and Honey Locust are both native to Eastern North America) are also nitrogen fixers. On the other hand, if the plan is to use waste products such as sawdust and corn stalks as the feedstock for the bacteria, then there is no extra cost to the environment to produce the ethanol. I don't know enough on the subject to comment authoritatively, I'm afraid. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-12-13 1:54:45 PM |
| #7 Not that ethanol is anything other than an expensive government-subsidy boondoggle, While currently true, that's ultimately a pricing issue. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-12-13 1:54:35 PM |
| #6 DeviousSaint: You might want to look into something called "crop rotation". Keen little invention from the somewhat-recent past. European immigrants have been introducing it in various places, last few years. Perhaps it hasn't made it into your end of creation as of yet? Fallow fields... There's a reason we label fallow fields as "idle" in the ag databases I help maintain. "Fallow" is for farmers who haven't figured out to organize a crop rotation schedule. Not that ethanol is anything other than an expensive government-subsidy boondoggle, but really! Fallow fields indeed... |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-12-13 1:48:42 PM |
| #5 Or rubbing alcohol... |
| Posted by: Kitty Dukakis 2004-12-13 1:27:07 PM |
| #4 Mix it with a little Makkolli. Smooooooooth... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-12-13 1:15:15 PM |
| #3 Fantastic. Advances are good. Ethanol is expensive but all things have a price. The price of Saudi Black Slag is worldwide exporting of Wahhabist Islamist fascism with the attendant violence: september 11, bali, madrid, nigerian embassy bombing, violence from the horn of africa through asia to middle east and chechynya I'd like to be OFF the black skag one day. Cars can run on Ethanol by the way. Car engines can be modified for a price to run on ethanol. You can't run your car on nukes, by the way. Nukes have a very expensive price tag which I'm not willing to pay. And hydrogen cells, solar, wind, wave etc are all too expensive and too silly and small. I like ethanol, i think it is the only viable alternative in the long run. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2004-12-13 11:35:57 AM |
| #2 massive farming is not sustainable unfortunately. The land has to rest and in essence rebuild all the nutrients that have been leached from it by crops. That's why it's often a practice to let a field go to fallow every so often to let the land rejuvenate. if we start relying on agriculture to support our energy needs... I forsee some problems as we push our production capability. -DS |
| Posted by: DeviantSaint 2004-12-13 10:23:08 AM |
| #1 OY! I can also see a great potential in the moonshine industry! |
| Posted by: Sobiesky 2004-12-13 3:26:12 AM |