Biofuel Breakthrough Made From Microbes

I thought this was announced a few months ago...

It was but published in detail in nature comments sept 27/11

Now in 20 to 30 years when this is commercialized - if it ever is - it may be of interest.

The only interest the military has in this stuff is the generals want promotions and with the present attitude at the top of government they have to toe the green line.

The military is one of the last places that new fuels will find a home. They need 100% reliability - not green.

Just because it's biosynthetic doesn't mean it's "green" in the sense that seems to bother you. Bisabolane is a hydrocarbon and if the production method is viable, it would be a drop-in replacement for diesel or jet fuel. Probably cleaner burning than diesel, but I would expect CO2 to be produced all the same from combustion of a 15 carbon chain.

More to the point, biosynthetic fuel is an alternative to fossil fuel, and a step away from the dependency on foreign products and the political compromises and troubles associated with that. Which is a good thing in its own right.

There would probably be some benefit to the environment on the side, certainly as an alternative to fossil fuel sources where the extraction process is extremely polluting (tar sands, anyone?). Hard to take if your "anti-green" but, at least we'll still be CO2 emitters, as nature intended, wha?

I'm always happy to hear of a synthetic fuel source - something we can make instead of mining - and the reason is, I have a nagging suspicion that there's another ice age around the corner and we might just run out of fossil juice to keep us warm.