E Coli: Bad for Your Stomach, Good for Peak Oil
A San Diego-based company says it’s engineered a new strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) — one of the bugs that causes food poisoning — that can produce a building block for plastic products without petroleum.
Genomatica, a company “focused on producing sustainable chemicals,” says its new version of the E. coli bacterium naturally produces 1,4‐butanediol (BDO), an organic and petroleum-based compound used to manufacture hundreds of different kinds of plastic, rubber and fiber products. The process not only uses 30 percent less energy than standard BDO production techniques, but can be fueled with non-food-based, renewable plant waste.
