--- Richard, > Tell us... the next act in the drama...
Well, it's no secret that if a mild thermo-chemical reaction can pull this off (unaided) in a simple warm refluxing situation, even if it is at a low yield-- then it is very reasonable to believe that single cell organisms (GM or natural) should be up to the task of doing the same thing more efficiently. GM in this case stands for genetic modification. There could be natural single-cell life already evolved to do this, even with the toxicity involved -- and if so, then it would likely be advantageous to hybridize that kind of bacteria to do the reaction as efficiently as possible (with or without solar input). There are plenty of "thermophilic" algae from hot springs and at ocean vents, with which to expand the gene pool. I haven't had time to look into this more deeply, so to speak, but in following the alternative-energy scene for the past twenty years, I have yet to see it mentioned (i.e. the concept of using bacteria/algae to convert soda into phenol). I would have guessed, prior to today, that it was totally impossible (and am not yet convinced that it is doable). BTW I am using the common term "soda" to mean any sodium+carbon based salt, primarily baking soda; and "phenol" to mean (very loosely) any oxygenated 6-ring based carbohydrate. The unspoken variable is cost. Soda is very much like sand - in that the cost of it is almost entirely in transportation, so it would be imperative to do the conversion process of soda into phenols at the site of the soda, even if the water must be trucked in. Even if the yield remains low at only a few percent (soda into phenol), the net cost could be extremely low. Needless to say, free and abundant "heat" is no problem in most of the very same places where natron is found. Water is the big limitation. Anyone ready to check-out Death Valley in the summer ? Jones
