One thing that hasn’t been discussed very much in reducing our dependence on foreign oil is the manufacture of plastics. I couldn’t find the statistics with Google, so I am asking you good people. How many barrels of oil does the US consume in the form of plastics? How does it compare to America’s gasoline consumption?
I found these stats for a different question:
Of all crude oil, 45% is refined into gasoline, 7% into diesel fuel, and 7% into jet fuel; 26% for heating oils of one type or another; 13% “as raw materials in manufacturing,” including petrochemicals for plastics; 2% for other uses.
Which I now realize doesn’t answer your question. Sorry.
I did some more googling, but don’t have the answer as of yet. this site says plastic consumption grew 10% in 2000. I think that that consumption is growing at a faster rate than energy consumption. Unfortunately, I still don’t have a good basis for comparison.
I guess my question is “which one will be more important in 2020”?. Hypothetially, if domestic sources could provide all our energy needs, would we still have to import crude oil as the raw material for plastics?
Cool sequential thread. Before I posted this, the next thread was “Michael Jackson Documentary”.
