Well, is it? It seems most people who are concerned about an oil shortage are concerned about an impending world energy crisis. I’m concerned about plastic. I love it! It’s so useful —not when it pretends to be something else like wood, but when it is its own entity and is used to make interesting speaker enclosures, myriads of container to hold myriads of things ----even some furniture.
So does a shortage of oil mean just a shortage of energy, or does it mean a shortage of everything derived from oil? Does most everything other than petroleum derived from oil have another source? And, (as if that weren’t enough questions) what products are derived from oil?
Cite? I’m really curious, not busting chops. I’ve always wondered about this… exactly what fractionate is used? I know the basics of the fractionization process, but can’t see which parts are “thrown away.” What else are these “by-products” used for, if not plastic? Seems like it’d be a lot of waste given the amount of oil that we process worldwide.
I have here a copy of an annual report from Rubbermaid that says most of their products are made from natural gas, not oil. Take that for what you will.
First of all, concerns about a coming global energy crisis may or may not be realistic – many alarmists base their predictions on the assumption that energy usage will continue to rise at the same rate it has been rising for the last few years until the Oil Runs Out, and most also assume that oil production will sharply decline for one reason or another. This is not to say that the oil won’t ever run out, but predicting doom in this manner isn’t necessarily accurate. Consider the alarming predictions made about overpopulation mostly in the 70s and 90s, which are less commonly cited than they are now.
However, that’s an entirely different issue (and there have been threads on Peak Oil and Olduvai and similar theories of doom). Let’s assume that the most alarming predictions do become true – there is no more cheap oil, and there’s a global energy crisis. There will still be oil left on Earth (in the Athabasca Tar Sands, for example, and in other difficult-to-access petroleum deposits), but it will not be possible to turn it into a fuel that can be sold for USD 1-2 per gallon. For at least some applications, it will still be profitable to make plastics from the remaining (expensive) oil, though the price may increase, and the increased cost of energy required to make and transport plastics may also be a factor.
There are so many things that can be made from petroleum that it’s almost sad that we burn so much of it as fuel. Not just plastic – a lot of organic chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, dyes, flavors, and so on, are made from oil. It will still be possible to make these things if oil becomes scarce and expensive, though the price may increase. For plastics, recycling (where possible) may be an important source, and alternative sources of carbon may have to be found. For example, ethanol from corn could be used to make plastic, as could carbon monoxide from burning organic matter. Many chemicals can be made from alternative sources as well, and researchers (I know at least one, and there must be others) are trying to find ways of preparing organic compounds without using petroleum-based raw materials.
um… Many plastics are made from plant materials and always have been. The Wikipedia article above is an excellent cite.
Some examples:
Cellulose derived materials, like rayon and related fabrics. Acetate is ultimately made from plant sources. Acetate is that stuff they make some coat and suit linings from - and also plastic safety goggles. Real linoleum tile is made from plant material. I used to think it was a plastic.
I have this excellent book which is a real eye-opener on how many of our current day industrial products are derived from plants, not petroleum: “Plants for People”
All of the plastics currently made from petroleum could theoretically be made from other organic materials. The only question is that of efficiency and cost. Sometimes it’s cheaper to use plant sources, sometimes it’s cheaper to use petroleum.
