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My super rough understanding is that asphalt, like many plastics, are actually made with otherwise scrap byproducts of the fossil fuel refinement process. So i
by maicro 3y ago
My super rough understanding is that asphalt, like many plastics, are actually made with otherwise scrap byproducts of the fossil fuel refinement process. So if electric vehicles become far more common, and fossil fuel refinement decreases, asphalt and petrochemical plastics might actually _increase_ in price as their raw materials become more scarce.
It's my pet theory that this is the opposite of what happened with energy drinks - decaf coffee became popular, so suddenly we had a surplus of relatively pure caffeine (once you let the hexane boil off).
- somerandomqaguy 3y agoIt's been a while since I did anything relating to construction so forgive me if I'm getting something wrong. Bitumen is the byproduct, and it's cheap because of that. But IIRC it wasn't just the cost that made it attractive. It's easier to work with then concrete, and maintenance via resurfacing is easier as well. It's a fair bit more flexible as vs concrete which can be desirable as the soil under the road settles and shifts over time; a concrete road will crack under those circumstances.
- hinkley 3y agoI had read somewhere that supercritical carbon dioxide was used to extract caffeine, but when I went to cite sources last year, I couldn't find any. I don't know now if that was misremembered on my part or someone's wishful thinking getting the better of them. "Everybody's doing it." Well, you and three other people isn't 'everybody'.
- maicro 3y agoEh, from what little I know about chemistry, there are often many ways to achieve the same goal - hexane was just the chemical I remember for decaffeination. I looked it up just now as well, and it turns out _my_ memory was a bit off - it's neurotoxic, but seems to be safe(r) in small exposure amounts than I remembered.
- hinkley 3y agoYeah I really don't like the idea of drinking things that had hexane in them. I tend to reach for tea if I want something hot but not much caffeine. Decaf still has enough caffeine that if you're super-sensitive (by genetics, reduced metabolism brought on by age, or both) it can cause problems anyway.
- devilbunny 3y agoI've read the same, but supercritical CO2 was definitely an alternative to hexane (or methylene chloride aka dichloromethane, in which caffeine is extraordinarily soluble). So maybe we're both wrong, but you're not completely misremembering - that was definitely a story that was out there.