OT: Video - Could fungus lower gas prices?

[Guest guest]

Could fungus lower gas prices?

NECN - Newton,MA*

http://www.necn.com/Boston/SciTech/Could-fungus-lower-gas-

prices/1210095961.html

(NECN/KOAT: Albuquerque, N.M.) - A long-time nuisance fungus could

become a prime-time player in an effort to bring down gas prices -

and lower food prices at the same time.

The fungus is being studied in a New Mexico lab, as a way to

generate ethanol more cheaply. And while it's not the most

appetizing thing to contemplate, it could lead to fuel that takes a

smaller bite out of your wallet, as Matt Grubs of KOAT-TV in

Albuquerque reports.

Here's his script:

Diego ez has designs on a very historic fungus.

It's called Trichoderma reesei - which you can go ahead and forget

now - but

know that it's been getting attention since World War II.

Diego ez: " It was eating holes in tents and canvas material

such as uniforms and stuff like that. "

This is the fungus - touched up a bit for its close up. The goal of

the research Diego did with a bunch of other scientists at Los

Alamos National Lab and a few other places is pretty simple.

" Engineer the organism to produce enzymes cheaper. "

Those enzymes help make ethanol - which is in much of the gas we pump

everyday.

What they do that's so unique is go after cellulose as opposed to

starch and

they do it rather efficiently. That means - as Diego patiently

explains - you could make ethanol out of a corn stalk as opposed to

a corn cob, and you could potentially make it cheaper.

Matt Grubs, KOAT: " Diego says that while he was researching

the history of this little fungus, he found something interesting.

And that is that people started paying a whole lot of attention to

it thirty years ago during the energy crisis of the 1970s. "

They just couldn't figure out a way to do it cheaply. Diego's work

could change that.

ez: " It couldn't have come fast enough in order to get this

information out to the public. "

In a time when gas prices and food prices are racing toward who

knows where,

a very historic fungus could make a very timely comeback.

In Albuquerque Matt Grubs KOAT Action 7 News.