"Ten years ago I could never have imagined I'd be doing this，"says Greg Pal，33，a former software executive．"I mean，this is essentially agriculture，right？But the people I talk to，especially the ones coming out of business school，think this is the one hot area everyone wants to get into．"

He means bugs．To be more accurate，the genetic（基因的） change of bugs---very，very small ones---so that when they feed on agricultural waste such as woodchip or wheat straw，they do something extraordinary．They excrete （排泄） crude oil．

Unbelievably，this is not science fiction．Mr．Pal holds up a small cup of bug excretion that could，in theory，be poured into the tank of the big Lexus SUX next to us．Not that Mr．Pal was willing to risk it just yet．He gives it a month before the first vehicle is filled up with what he calls"renewable petroleum"．After that，he smiles，"It's a brave new world．"

Mr．Pal is a senior director of LS9，one of several companies in or near Silicon Valley．The company is not interested in using corn as material，given the much-advertised problems created by using food crops for fuel．Instead，different types of agricultural waste will be used according to whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy：wheat straw in California，for example，or woodchip in the south．

Are Americans ready to be putting genetically changed bug excretion in their cars？"It's not the same as with food，"Mr．Pal say．"We are putting these bacteria in a very isolated container．Their entire universe is in that tank．When we've done with them．they are destroyed．"

"Besides"，he says，"there is greater good being served．""I have two children，and climate change is something that they are going to face．The energy crisis is something that they are going to face．We have a collective responsibility to do this．"

72．Greg Pal used to___．

A．have great interest in