Oil-eating plants could clear up spills

Oil spills could be cleaned up with the help of organisms that grow at the bottom of the world's deepest lake, scientists hope.

Last Updated: 5:12PM GMT 01 Jan 2009

They are investigating how microbes 'eat' naturally occurring crude oil that seeps into the bottom of Lake Baikal in Siberia.
Dr Mikhail Grachyov, an expert on the flora and fauna of the 5,400ft-deep lake, said: "Baikal has microbes that absorb this oil so it does not spread through the lake. This could have huge implications for environmental disasters."
The scientists believe that the microbes convert the crude oil into methane and other by-products, but they do not yet understand how.
Dr Grachyov said: "It is important that we study these processes more thoroughly."
Samples that were gathered in two mini-submarines will be analysed over the coming years.
In 1996, hundreds of sea birds were killed along with fish and other marine wildlife when the Sea Empress oil tanker ran aground off the Pembrokeshire coast, spilling 72,000 tonnes of crude.
Dr David Santillo, senior scientist with the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at the University of Exeter, said: "Further investigation of these unusual microbial communities in Lake Baikal will be valuable.
"However, while microbial action might help deal with some oil spills, we need to place far more emphasis on preventing such spills from happening in the first place."