3 ms·

You Can’t Build Roads Without Oil

11 points by jkuria 4y ago

tony-allan 4y ago
The need for oil doesn't go away with the transition to non-petrol cars. It's also used to make plastics and many other industrial products. Hopefully we will stop burning it and the volume we pump out of the ground will also go down.
- pfdietz 4y ago
  Plastics are mostly made from natural gas, not oil. Aromatics come from oil, but can also be produced from other sources, including biomass.
  - tony-allan 4y ago
    ...made from either "Plastics are made from natural materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil through a polymerisation or polycondensation process." https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/how-plastics-are-made/ https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/how-plastics-a... https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/how-plastic-is-made https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/how-plastic-is-made
- foxyv 4y ago
  If plastics become too expensive I don't really see that as a problem. Then they will only be used when absolutely necessary instead of literally everywhere. We have so many other reusable and recyclable materials.
6510 4y ago
https://www.designboom.com/design/sandstoneroad-by-thomas-kosbau-andrew-wetzler-iida-awards-2010-winner/ https://www.designboom.com/design/sandstoneroad-by-thomas-ko...
tekchip 4y ago
Hole up...so the premise of this article is if we don't burn the top 70% then we can't use the other 30% for other things? Like you couldn't pump off the 70% to a different container to get at the stuff in the bottom? Using the material for other stuff isn't great but it's at least not burning it and releasing it into the atmosphere directly. We'll find other solutions for these other things but in the meantime we'll try to burn less. Article seems a bit nonsense.
peanut_worm 4y ago
We make most of our roads in Florida out of concrete. I am sure asphalt is better for snow but I don’t think I believe that the most powerful country on the planet cannot figure out an alternative to asphalt.
jokoon 4y ago
Well yeah that's why roads are black/grey, asphalt is made of oil. Didn't people know that already? Also toothpaste, toothbrush, a good amount of medicine and medical products too
hulitu 4y ago
> You Can’t Build Roads Without Oil "Terrific race, the romans. Terrific" Monty Python
foxyv 4y ago
The market will take care of this. The reason we use bitumen now is not because it's the best for the job. We use it because it is cheap. There are other options that are better like cement that last longer. Will the material cost of building roads go up? Probably. Will we be unable to build roads at all? Probably not. There are also plant based alternatives being researched like Lignin and crystalized salt.

11 points by jkuria 4y ago

The need for oil doesn't go away with the transition to non-petrol cars. It's also used to make plastics and many other industrial products. Hopefully we will stop burning it and the volume we pump out of the ground will also go down.

pfdietz 4y ago
Plastics are mostly made from natural gas, not oil. Aromatics come from oil, but can also be produced from other sources, including biomass.
- tony-allan 4y ago
  ...made from either "Plastics are made from natural materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil through a polymerisation or polycondensation process." https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/how-plastics-are-made/ https://plasticseurope.org/plastics-explained/how-plastics-a... https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/how-plastic-is-made https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/how-plastic-is-made
foxyv 4y ago
If plastics become too expensive I don't really see that as a problem. Then they will only be used when absolutely necessary instead of literally everywhere. We have so many other reusable and recyclable materials.

6510 4y ago

https://www.designboom.com/design/sandstoneroad-by-thomas-kosbau-andrew-wetzler-iida-awards-2010-winner/ https://www.designboom.com/design/sandstoneroad-by-thomas-ko...

tekchip 4y ago

Hole up...so the premise of this article is if we don't burn the top 70% then we can't use the other 30% for other things? Like you couldn't pump off the 70% to a different container to get at the stuff in the bottom? Using the material for other stuff isn't great but it's at least not burning it and releasing it into the atmosphere directly. We'll find other solutions for these other things but in the meantime we'll try to burn less. Article seems a bit nonsense.

peanut_worm 4y ago

We make most of our roads in Florida out of concrete. I am sure asphalt is better for snow but I don’t think I believe that the most powerful country on the planet cannot figure out an alternative to asphalt.

jokoon 4y ago

Well yeah that's why roads are black/grey, asphalt is made of oil. Didn't people know that already? Also toothpaste, toothbrush, a good amount of medicine and medical products too

hulitu 4y ago

> You Can’t Build Roads Without Oil "Terrific race, the romans. Terrific" Monty Python

foxyv 4y ago

The market will take care of this. The reason we use bitumen now is not because it's the best for the job. We use it because it is cheap. There are other options that are better like cement that last longer. Will the material cost of building roads go up? Probably. Will we be unable to build roads at all? Probably not. There are also plant based alternatives being researched like Lignin and crystalized salt.