• Question: Can we artificially encourage the creation of fossil fuels such as coal and oil?

    Asked by soggysheepy to Andrew, Janey P, Kinda, Ravi, SarahJane on 20 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sarah-Jane Walsh

      Sarah-Jane Walsh answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      you can create synthetic fuels and oil, however the energy needed to do it is so much that it can be more than they produce so it is not cost or energy efficient… its much better to use renewable energies and move to technologies that utilise them, electric cars etc!

    • Photo: Jane Paget

      Jane Paget answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      At the moment much research is going on into creating clean fuels from bacteria. To do this the metabolic pathways that the bacteria normally has to decompose carbon sources is altered. Is kinda of like changing one part of a process in a production line so that the end produce is slightly different. One example is using thermophilic (heat loving) bacteria to metabolise carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to turn into ethanol.

      So I would agree with Sarah we definitely need to be steering clear of fossil fuels.

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