Mars extracts: A process developed to study Mars could improve access to Earth's oil

摘要

A CHEMICAL PROCESS initially developed to study the biological environment on Mars could be used on Earth to help extract oil from tar sands. The method, developed by researchers at Imperial College London, involves using extraction-helping materials called surfactants. Imperial Earth science engineer Mark Sephton, one of the developers, said these surfactants were originally designed for use on Exo-Mars, Europe's next robotic mission with NASA in 2018, to liberate organic matter from rock on Mars.