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"Renewable" Petroleum
 Yes, that's right, a "renewable" form of the black gold we are all advocating against. But this petroleum is not a fossil fuel, it just combusts like one. When the founding members of LS9, Inc. asked the question..."If you removed all constraints, what would the ideal biofuel be?" Their answer was petroleum. It is no surprise that such an idea would come from LS9's President, Bob Walsh, who spent 30+ years employed with Shell Oil. Before counting the ways in which calling petroleum a biofuel is totally absurd, let's look at the science.... LS9 has patented a process for turning fatty-acids into hydrocarbons or what they call petroleum replacement products. Where are they getting the fatty acids? From "renewable" sugars. The novel part comes from the process by which they ferment the sugars to create hydrocarbons. Most of us understand fermentation as the production of ethanol and carbon dioxide, like in beer and wine, a reaction driven by yeast, the enzyme that breaks down sugars into fatty acids then alcohols and CO2. The magic of LS9 is a proprietary process that converts sugars into oils not alcohols. How do they do it? With patented microbes that have patented enzymes that convert sugars (Carbons, hydrogens and oxygens) into hydrocarbons (carbons and hydrogens) so what are the patented microbes and their patented enzymes doing with the oxygens? Where did the oxygen go? LS9 will tell you its NOT contrary to the laws of thermodynamics, its just pushing the frontiers of synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology....!?!  COMMENTS Post a Comment
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