Developed by researchers from China's Northeast Forestry University, the bamboo plastic can biodegrade in soil within 50 days and offers a pathway towards sustainable plastic alternatives.
The petrochemical industry has significant economies of scale, making it difficult to dethrone. Also, there are some shady political shenanigans to ensure its continued existence. Getting rid of oil is going to require some radical changes.
On top of that, the rest of chemical industry is largely dependent on oil, with oil-based products literally everywhere. Even asphalt and bitumen used in road construction comes from crude oil. Lubricants, dyes, detergents, waxes and emulsifiers are also derived from oil, just to name a few.
Even when we develop clever new methods to manufacture all of these products from plant-based materials, the logistics chain to manage the volumes required by modern life is not there yet. Building this infrastructure will take a long time, just like it took decades to create the addiction we’re currently in.
If we stopped making power and transportation from burning oil and gas that would be a huge improvement. It’s usage as a solevent or other applications is negligible.
Get rid of the plastics on top of that and we might actually have a chance
The petrochemical industry has significant economies of scale, making it difficult to dethrone. Also, there are some shady political shenanigans to ensure its continued existence. Getting rid of oil is going to require some radical changes.
Getting rid of oil would also require radical breakthroughs in solvents. I doubt oil is going anywhere even if ICEs and plastics stopped being used.
The thing is, oil is an incredible resource with properties unlike any other, so we should stop fucking burning it
If all we we use oil for is solvents and lubrication and such, it would probably be perfectly fine, and we would have enough for centuries.
We should also stop using it for food packaging. I don’t need the thing that is covering my vegetables to last for hundreds of years.
On top of that, the rest of chemical industry is largely dependent on oil, with oil-based products literally everywhere. Even asphalt and bitumen used in road construction comes from crude oil. Lubricants, dyes, detergents, waxes and emulsifiers are also derived from oil, just to name a few.
Even when we develop clever new methods to manufacture all of these products from plant-based materials, the logistics chain to manage the volumes required by modern life is not there yet. Building this infrastructure will take a long time, just like it took decades to create the addiction we’re currently in.
If we stopped making power and transportation from burning oil and gas that would be a huge improvement. It’s usage as a solevent or other applications is negligible.
Get rid of the plastics on top of that and we might actually have a chance