 Fossil fuels represent a major strain on our planet. Extracting them, processing them, and using them like we do every day releases greenhouse gases that are catapulting temperatures to increasingly dangerous levels. It's a dire situation for sure, but not entirely irreversible. For their part, the Fraunhofer Industrial Biotechnology Group, headed by Dr. Genevine in Aachen, Germany, are looking to anaerobic bacteria for help. By pooling unique biochemical abilities from various bacteria they're creating strains of fuel-producing superbacteria. In their latest study, published in the journal Microbial Cell Factories, the team describes how these genetically modified bacteria eat greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, and produce environmentally friendly short-chain alcohols like butanol and hexanol, which can be used to generate, among other things, jet fuel. Co-opting microbes to produce fuels isn't new. Ethanol, as humans have long known, is a valuable product of fermentation that requires only the right microbes and a source of sugar for them to feed on. The same goes for industrially important chemicals like acetone, butanol, and hexanol. Over time, scientists have identified microbes capable of producing these compounds naturally, and they've even developed ways of boosting their production by way of genetic or metabolic engineering. This marks the first time, however, that researchers have engineered microbes that turn CO2 into butanol and hexanol. This is clostridium youngdali. Named after biochemist Lars G. Youngdall, bacteria of this type are known for their ability to ferment combustible gas mixtures, or syngas, into ethanol directly from the wild. But to get them to produce more energy-dense compounds like butanol and hexanol, the researchers had to borrow genes from three other bacteria. They introduced the genes and integrated them into the genome of clostridium youngdali. The enzymes that these genes code for effectively extend youngdali's production line. Now, the organism can take CO2 and turn it into butanol and hexanol, which can be used to manufacture jet fuels and other drop-in fuels like diesel. Hexanol can also serve as a flavoring or as a precursor for certain plastics, or it can be used to produce industrial solvents. And that could just be the beginning. The team's approach to using CO2 and hydrogen as carbon and energy sources for microbial fermentation could help reduce the need for fossil resources in the production of jet fuel and other chemicals.