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> Oil is on the way out You can't make plastic from coal. More and more items are being manufactured from plastic, which comes from oil. There is more to this
by module0000 10y ago
> Oil is on the way out
You can't make plastic from coal. More and more items are being manufactured from plastic, which comes from oil. There is more to this narrative than what you put in your gas tank.
- dntrkv 10y agoSure, but energy is the biggest use of oil by far. Obviously we will never completely eliminate the use of oil, but that's not the goal, we just need to bring it down to a reasonable level. Not what we are doing now. http://images.realclear.com/215863_5_.jpg http://images.realclear.com/215863_5_.jpg
- philipkglass 10y agoYou can make plastic from coal, indirectly by way of synthetic methanol. China's already doing it on a large scale: http://blogs.platts.com/2015/02/11/china-coal-methanol-olefins/ http://blogs.platts.com/2015/02/11/china-coal-methanol-olefi... (The methanol could come from renewable electricity and CO2 extracted from seawater, instead of coal, if renewables get cheap enough. Or you can make methanol from waste wood, corn stover, all kinds of biomass.)
- wycx 10y agoVinylon, a synthetic fibre made from coal and limestone is a north korean specialty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinylon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinylon