[Vision2020] Synthetic Life Forms: Craig Venter On Climate Change

[Ted Moffett]

Donovan et. al.

Actually, many do not concede that the Earth's climate is warming as a long
term trend, or if it is, that human activity is the primary cause.  This
skeptics point of view has been expressed by many on Vision2020.  So while
anthropogenic primarily CO2 emission related climate change is regarded with
a high probability it is a correct theory by most scientists, the debate
continues.  And of course there are things you can do to reduce your "carbon
footprint", as they say.  These options are so well known I will not list
them.

What is interesting about Craig Venter is the technology of biology and
genetics that his business is developing, applied to the problems of
advanced energy sources that can mitigate CO2 emission induced climate
change.  This is both promising and frightening, given he is developing the
technology and advocating the advantages of creating synthetic life forms:

http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/venter.dimbleby07/venter.dimbleby07_index.html


Right now extensively modified bacteria are being used to make food
additives and industrial chemicals.  DuPont has a plant in the US state of
Tennessee with four very large silos where they are using metabolically
engineered bacteria to convert sugar into a new polymer, propanediol which
is the key component in their stain resistant carpets and clothing.  Several
teams, including my own, are modifying bacteria to make the next generation
biofuels.  For example, my team has a new fuel chemical made from sugars as
a starting material that has the potential to be one of the first green jet
fuels.

But we don't always have to modify bacteria or design new ones.  What has
occurred on Earth from Darwinian evolution is pretty amazing in that the
unique metabolism of these microbial powerhouses can often provide exactly
what we need.  For instance, we have a team at my institute headed by Ken
Nealson that has developed microbial fuel cells using naturally occurring
bacteria.  These organisms can process human and animal waste to produce
electricity and or clean water.

At my company Synthetic Genomics, we have a major program underway in
collaboration with BP to see if we can use naturally occurring microbes to
metabolize coal into methane which can then be harvested as natural gas.
While not a renewable source of carbon, it could provide as much as a 10
fold improvement over mining and burning coal.  We also have organisms that
can convert CO2 into methane thereby providing a renewable source of fuel.

The biggest question in my mind is the one of scale.  Last year we consumed
more than 83 million barrels of oil per day or 30 billion barrels during the
year.  In addition we used over 3 billion tons of coal.  These are mind
boggling numbers and the only way that I can see replacing oil and coal is
through a widely distributed system.  If there were one million
bio-refineries around the globe each one would still need to produce 17,000
liters per day. For the UK my vision would entail thousands of
bio-refineries distributed around the country near where the fuel would be
consumed and where the starting raw material such as cellulose would be
available.  On a global scale there will be millions of new fuel producers
perhaps favoring the agricultural rich developing world.  This could be the
ultimate disruptive model by changing the entire infrastructure for energy
production and consumption and helping us toward a carbon neutral world.

In closing:

It is my hope that we can embrace, not fear, the necessary science to help
our planet.
I feel it is imperative that we begin to find ways to adapt to climate
change, while at the same time working to mitigate it. Unfortunately we are
already on a path toward significant change, but if we apply ourselves I
believe we can find ways to create alternatives to burning oil and coal.  We
need multiple simultaneous approaches to solve this problem, with the goal
of net zero carbon emissions to stabilize atmospheric concentrations and
ensure our survival.

Craig Venter
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 3/1/08, Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> So what do you want me to do about this, Ted?
>
> So the world is getting hotter. We are were aware before this report. Is
> there really anything I can do to cool it down? I think not.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Donovan
>
> *Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
>
> http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/venter.dimbleby07/venter.dimbleby07_index.html
>
> There has been much debate about climate change perhaps because we cannot
> see carbon dioxide when we exhale, or when we burn oil and coal to heat our
> homes, or use petrol to power our cars or fly planes. We do, however, have
> scientific instruments that can accurately measure what we humans produce
> and the increasing amount of carbon that we are adding to our environment.
> The data is irrefutable--carbon dioxide concentrations have been steadily
> increasing in our atmosphere as a result of human activity since the
> earliest measurements began. We know that on the order of 4.1 billion tons
> of carbon are being added to and staying in our atmosphere each year.  We
> know that burning fossil fuels and deforestation are the principal
> contributors to the increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in our
> atmosphere. We know that increasing CO2 concentrations has the same effect
> as the glass walls and roof of a greenhouse. It lets the energy from the sun
> easily penetrate but limits its escape, hence the term greenhouse gas.
> Observational and modeling studies have confirmed the association of
> increasing CO2 concentrations with the change in average global temperatures
> over the last 120 years.  Between 1906 and 2005 the average global
> temperature has increased 0.74 degrees C. This may not seem like very
> much, but it can have profound effects on the strength of storms and the
> survival of species including coral reefs.
> Eleven of the last twelve years rank among the warmest years since 1850.
> While no one knows for certain the consequences of this continuing unchecked
> warming, some have argued it could result in catastrophic changes, such as
> the disruption of the Gulf Steam which keeps the UK out of the ice age or
> even the possibility of the Greenland ice sheet sliding into the Atlantic
> Ocean.  Whether or not these devastating changes occur, we are conducting a
> dangerous experiment with our planet. One we need to stop.
> The developed world including the United States, England and Europe
> contribute disproportionately to the environmental carbon, but the
> developing world is rapidly catching up.  As the world population increases
> from 6.5 billion people to 9 billion over the next 45 years and countries
> like India and China continue to industrialize, some estimates indicate that
> we will be adding over 20 billion tons of carbon a year to the atmosphere.
> Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rates would cause
> further warming and induce many changes to the global climate that could be
> more extreme than those observed to date. This means we can expect more
> climate change; more ice cap melts, rising sea levels, warmer oceans and
> therefore greater storms, as well as more droughts and floods, all which
> compromise food and fresh water production.
> The increase in population coupled with climate change will tax every
> aspect of our lives. In a world already struggling to keep up with demand,
> will we be able to provide the basics of food, clean water, shelter and fuel
> to these new citizens of Earth? And will governments be able to cope with
> new emerging infections, storms, wildfires, and global conflicts?
> So is there any way of avoiding these apocalyptic visions of the future
> coming true? Many have argued that we simply need to conserve, to alter and
> regress our standard of living and block the industrialization of developing
> countries. In my view this is extremely naive thinking. Furthermore, even
> the most optimistic models on climate change show a dramatically altered
> planet Earth going forward even if we embrace all alternative options such
> as wind and solar energy, and electric cars. Our entire world economy and
> the ability of modern society to provide life's basics, depend on the very
> industrialization that contributes to our possible demise.
> Yet, sadly, very little thinking, planning or projections about how to
> cope with the carbon problem and climate change have taken into account the
> capabilities of modern science to produce what we have long needed to help
> solve these global threats.
> It is clear to me that we need more approaches and creative solutions. We
> need new disruptive ideas and technologies to solve these critical global
> issues.  This is where, I believe, biology and genomics, come in.
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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