Recently, “oilzapper” was in the news. What is it?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) It is an eco-friendly technology for the remediation of oily sludge and oil spills
Oilzapper is a bacterial product developed by TERI with support from the Department of Biotechnology. Its bacteria degrade crude oil and oily sludge, which makes it an eco-friendly way to clean up oil spills and oily waste.
- ✓ (a) Oilzapper is a consortium of bacteria, held on powdered corncob, that efficiently degrade crude oil and oily sludge. It can break down petroleum sludge and treat crude oil spills, so it is a bioremediation technology.
- ✗ (b) It is a clean-up product, not an exploration tool. It is applied to oil that has already spilled or built up as sludge, not used to find oil under the sea.
- ✗ (c) It is not a maize variety. Powdered corncob is only the carrier material that holds the bacteria.
- ✗ (d) It does not deal with fires or flames at oil wells. It works by biological degradation of oil.
Remember · Oilzapper is a TERI-developed, DBT-supported bacterial consortium on a corncob carrier. It bioremediates oily sludge and crude oil spills.
Sources
- PIB, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (Rajya Sabha reply), 25 Feb 2003: Remedy for oil spills at sea ↗ “Oilzapper is carrier based (powdered corncob) efficient crude oil and oily sludge degrading bacterial consortia which can degrade petroleum sludge and treat crude oil spills.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2011, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
