Comments on: Inside Mascoma's ethanol-making bug lab

With backing from GM, ethanol start-up hosts a tour of its biotech lab, where scientists are genetically engineering microorganisms that they hope will bring a breakthrough in ethanol production.

[JasonSpradlin]

Let's hope that someday microbes such as this don't get out and turn all of the cellulose in any given area into gasoline... That would be an un-fun landscape

[JasonSpradlin]

ethanol, I mean... but you get my point

[Gray K]

1. Development of a single bacterial is the most promising in the long run. Until progress is more assured, the bacteria-yeast, enzyme-yeast, or syn-gas methods should all be worked on for cellulosic ethanol. 2. While e85 contains 28 % less energy per gallon than gasoline, it has a much higher octane rating. That means you can greatly increase the compression ratio and thereby the efficiency of the engine. 3. I suggest you add "compressed Air Cars" to your alternate energy list. 4. We only get the first 5% of the energy in nuclear fuel using it once the way we are doing today. We need to get started in reprocessing nuclear fuel. Among the obvious advantages, reusing both reduces the volume of the waste and the danger from it.