Posted on 03/05/2006 12:36:00 PM PST by neverdem
Nestled away in a small room on DuPont's 150-acre research center in Wilmington, Del., robotic arms fill tiny tubes with gelatinous material that was extracted from corn and soybean plants. Other metallic arms will soon dip and measure and deconstruct each sample, spewing forth a list of its attributes and traits.
Only a fistful — maybe one of every 50 — will move on to the fermentation lab, a few buildings away. There, researchers will see how the samples react to different mixtures of air, glucose and microbes. Down the hall, other researchers will tinker with the microbes themselves.
All of them are chasing the same holy grail: bio-based substances that can replace oil and gas as building blocks for chemicals. "We figure out what works in theory, and then we see what works in practice," Alexander D. Kopatsis, a research associate, said.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, unlike most chemical companies, has moved the quest for bio-based raw materials off the wish list and onto the to-do agenda. The company has allocated nearly 10 percent of its $1.3 billion research budget to extracting ingredients from carbohydrates — things that grow and can be infinitely replaced — rather than from hydrocarbons, which are mined or drilled and readily depleted.
--snip--
"We're using biology to solve problems that chemistry can't," he said.
--snip--
Then, again, so is the prospect of relying on foreign oil. Albert H. Segars, professor of technology management at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, notes that against the backdrop of political instability in so many oil-producing regions, DuPont's biotechnology strategy seems almost safe. "If a war breaks out with Iran," he said, "your biology-based fuels will look at lot better than your petro-based ones."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Or duct tape.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
The profit motive is the engine of progress, the font of everything great in our society. The replacement for fossil fuels will not come from parasitic government, but from individuals and corporations looking to get filthy stinkin' RICH.
More power to 'em.
this is actually an excellent idea
"Better things for better living through chemistry."
Testing: Generic Versus Prescription Ends in a Tie
Doctors Take Note: Even the Whiners Sometimes Get Sick
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
China is firing up its new Tokamak. They think they have the solution in hand.
Ladies in Seattle had better carry an umbrella!
The profit motive is the engine of progress, the font of everything great in our society. The replacement for fossil fuels will not come from parasitic government, but from individuals and corporations looking to get filthy stinkin' RICH. More power to 'em.
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lol, well said. And the funny thing is that it will be a company like DuPont that does this, as opposed to the billions and billions thrown into various porkbarrelling and wasted useless politically correct research.
DuPont should have their portion of taxes taken from them to pursue this useless government research returned to them, so they can do it themselves.
Amen.
This is where Marx just misses the boat. He theorized that man, without religion, would slave for humanity because he thought it was the right thing and we would just do it.
In truth, man will slave for what man has been working for since the dawn of time, survival/security. Today it is represented by dollars.
What I don't understand is how some people look at capitalism as oppressive when we have a century of failed Marxism to compare it to. That's just plain silly, naive, stupid. Drives me nuts.
Toured the old gunpowder factory a couple summers ago. I guess at the time it was state of the art (except for the occasional explosions.) but it was neat to see what was considered modern, state of the art back then.
You can't compare the efficiency of private industry to a massive government bureaucracy. I think we have reached the point that our government is no longer moving the nation forward, it's about getting the incumbents reelected. Our we hosed? A good maybe.
No, it can't replace transport energy needs which are mostly oil-based. What they COULD do is replace the much smaller amounts of natural gas and oil that we use for chemical feedstocks. Having another source for plastics, chemicals, pesticides ect, would be handy.
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