Bug Excrement = Fuel of Future

[Ussuri]

This is an article in the Times where scientists claim to be able to produce hydrocarbons as a waste product of genetically modifed single cell organisms. At the moment I'm paying £1.30 a litre for diesel, I wonder how much bug faeces will be, and how much tax it will carry?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece

 

[IAAWVU05]

That's great. Let's say the single cell organisms are accidentally released into the environment and spread rapidly. All of the world's food will turn into that bug excrement. All the fuel problems will be solved, but we'll starve ourselves out. Hey wait - it works just like ethanol! If we want to solve the world's oil problem, figure out a way to synthesize crude oil from sewage. More oil, less crap (literally and figuratively), infinite supply. We all win.

 

[TPL]

Your post prompted me to look up the breakdown of the pump price of diesel in the UK:

A pump price of diesel at 127.9/litre is made up as follows:

Duty = 50.35
VAT = 19.05

Product cost = 45.98
Retailer/delivery = 12.52


So Mr Browns* current take is 54% of the pump price - can't see him (or any of his successors that have to pick up the peices of yet another failed tax and spend government) losing that amount of revenue, so whatever fuel replaces gasoline (if ever) its going to be heavily taxed so that the pump price has no relation to the cost of production.

* We all know that its now Mr Darling, but his boss still pulls the levers

 

[jmw]

Not levers, strings (if controlled from above) or er, fingers, if a glove puppet. However, Mr Darling has proven quite capable of messing up without help and with his track record The Brun can happily blame him when it all goes T**s up.
Interestingly someone commented that fuel sue had dropped by 25%. If this was a direct result of fuel prices there'd be some justification for tax as a mechanism to control use. However. 25% reduction is a also a 25% reduction in tax received so the next step would be to softpedal tax increases to encourage fuel use (and tax generation) back up again.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com