Synthetic Alkanes in a Petri Dish (IMAGE)
Caption
It sounds like science fiction but a team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand. While the technology still faces many significant commercialization challenges, the diesel, produced by special strains of <i>E. coli</i> bacteria, is almost identical to conventional diesel fuel and so does not need to be blended with petroleum products as is often required by biodiesels derived from plant oils.
Credit
Marian Littlejohn
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