It's said that great things happen from small beginnings. In
this case, a tiny marine crustacean could revolutionise biofuel production and
usher in a new generation of liquid propellants for buses, cars and aeroplanes
that would effectively be powered by wood.
A huge amount of energy is stored in woody biomass. But
getting at it is harder than it sounds because of the effort needed to prise
the sugars in wood out of the tough structures in which it is encased. Enter
the gribble: this 2mm creature, like a very small wood louse that lives in the
sea, can digest wood all by itself.