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Newly Discovered Bacteria Could Aid Oil Cleanup
suraj.sun passes along news from Oregon State University, where researchers have discovered a new strain of bacteria that may be able to aid cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The bacteria "can produce non-toxic, comparatively inexpensive 'rhamnolipids,' and effectively help degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs — environmental pollutants that are one of the most harmful aspects of oil spills. Because of its unique characteristics, this new bacterial strain could be of considerable value in the long-term cleanup of the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, scientists say." In related news, Kevin Costner's centrifugal separator technology has gotten approval for deployment; now it is only waiting on funding from BP.
I really, really hope this article will soon be tagged "whatcouldpossiblygowrong"
Doesn't sound like a very good idea to release huge amounts of a newly developed, untested, unverified bacteria into our oceans...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species
Given he quantity of oil that has been released and the volume of the gulf, the only way this could possibly work was if the bacteria in question was able to spread throughout the gulf after being released. Unfortunately, if that is the case then that's really not something you want to introduce to an ecosystem that isn't used to it. The oil is bad, but we know from experience that introducing new organism to already vulnerable ecosystems is generally a bad idea.
I get WHY Kevin Costner is getting so much press with his oil separation machine; it's not like he has to work hard to get a camera in front of his face. But it's not like the separation process is what is causing an environmental disaster; it's all that oil out in the ocean. If Kevin Costner was selling a machine that can suck up cubic miles of water, that would be newsworthy
There are thousands of bacteria on the face of the planet that can break down oil and I bet many of them are in the Gulf itself, right now, which has been seeping oil for what, 100's of millions of years? The problem is not if there are bacteria that can metabolize oil; we already know 100's of ones that do, the question is, will it be more effective than the 1000's already out there?
This is just a press release for a grant writing fishing expedition for BP money. Everyone is doing it right now in academia, trust me.
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
The price of gasoline is not affected because this spill has no affect whatsoever on the refineries in Texas. They are still collecting oil from Saudi tankers and still pumping out gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and so on.
Also, and this is just personal opinion, I think people that believe in conspiracy theories (9/11 was a planned demolition, etc) are whackjobs. Why believe in outlandish complicated scenarios when the simplest answer is staring you right in the face? Supply-and-demand. That's why prices fluctuate
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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
The gulf is blooming with natural oil eating bacteria that already know how to live among the communities and predators there. Indeed there are so many of them eating the oil right now they say it's removing all the oxygen from the water making a deadzone.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Regular bacteria is already flesh-eating. Why do you think things rot?
So far, right now, the only people who are truly upset about this are the "environmentalist whack jobs."
Beg your pardon. How many millions of people live on the Gulf coastline? Which are they - whack jobs or not upset?
Apparently that oil well had not previously produced oil for sale,
Oil prices are set based on speculative futures. In other words, normally people would say, opps - that means less oil coming to market down the road so the price needs to jump - and it does. Odd that it didn't do what it has always done in this case.
People need to understand that there exists a few products which are absolutely NOT part of free market economies and are not directly driven by supply and demand. Both diamonds and oil are such products. Their prices and supplies are artificially manipulated at every corner. While oil, unlike diamonds, truly are a scarce resource, they are both so heavily manipulated before and after they enter the market, their prices do not reflect reality of market demands - not in the least. If it were any other goods, talk of conspiracy, price fixing, price gouging and lots of serious investigations would be par for the course.
And no, this isn't crazy talk. I encourage you to do some modest investigation for yourself. You'll find lots and lots and lots and lots of completely legitimate sources stating all this.
Did you know if too much gas is produced and/or accidentally scheduled for delivery to the US, its dumped on non-US markets; traditionally south America? We certainly wouldn't want the price of gas to fall. Did you know refinery plants have been shut down but no new refineries have been created? Did you know one of the most cost effective refineries was one of the ones shut down? In fact, it was purchased for the explicit purpose of shutting it down? Following its shutdown, the price of fuel steadily went up stating they were at production limits and no one wants them to create a refinery in their back yard?
The amount of fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation is so criminal, it makes criminals in awe of how complex and complete the oil industry fucks everyone - without prosecution.
In short, EVERYTHING you learned in economics 101 does NOT apply to oil/diamonds. Period.
It depends on your definition of "safe." You see the bacteria burn oxygen in their metabolic process. Too many of them feeding at once and suddenly there is not enough oxygen to sustain any sort of sizable lifeforms. Already this is happening in the gulf, and considering that at least half of the gulf was already a dead zone due to lack of oxygen, this implies that most of the gulf will become a massive dead zone. Its really hard to say what the long term effects of any of this can be. Also there is always the looming threat of a hurricane coming and stalling operations as well as dumping a great deal of oil along the coast with the storm surge. Yeah. The oil eating bacteria is certainly a solution, and is better than just leaving the oil there to soak into wetlands and lakes and whatnot. I mean if you already have something that is incapable of sustaining life, at least restoring it somewhat helps. I don't think they need to introduce any new bacteria. There seem to be enough naturally occurring strains already out there doing their jobs. The great thing about bacteria is that they reproduce at a phenomenal rate and will just keep increasing their blooms and spreading along with the oil. Will they solve the problem? Certainly not, but they are indeed helping a great deal.
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