Community | November 24, 2009 | 11 comments

Experts Produce Plastic Without Fossil Fuels - The move could see pollution drop down considerably

source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Produce-Plastic-Without-Fossil-Fuels-127667.shtml

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JackHerer
Up until now, scientists have always considered that the only possible way of producing plastic, one of the main materials in our civilization, is through modifying and altering fossil fuels, primarily oil. But now, a team of South Korean scientists has managed to produce the compound for the first time without using any of these polluting fuels. Rather than extracting it from chemicals, they have managed to bioengineer it, proving once and for all that changes can be made to our way of life through innovation.

The achievement does make one wonder how it is that it was not made in one of the countries where the oil companies ruled, such as the United States or Canada. In short, there is no interest in such products in these nations, where the extent of the influence that oil corporations have on governments is difficult to quantify.
The South Korean accomplishment also points at the fact that the oil industry is indeed dispensable. Previous studies, done elsewhere, also demonstrated that plastic-like compounds, even more efficient than the actual plastics, could be made of hemp as well.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Experts-Produce-Plastic-Without-Fossil-Fuels-1276...
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11 comments // Experts Produce Plastic Without Fossil Fuels - The move could see pollution drop down considerably

  • AMPiper
    • 0
      AMPiper  

    • Time to kick the Black Crack!

      We have been manipulated and hooked into mainlining precious earth fluids. Bioengineered plastics can be (have been) designed to be biodegradable - addressing the Oceanic Trash Gyres problem.

      All of us that are aware must limit our purchase of petroleum products - divest of all petro-company stocks and bonds.

      Hemp can lead this Green Revolution. Hemp and Bamboo can provide all our "wood product" needs - freeing our forest to become the wonderful living gardens they can become.

      Much Love

    • 2 years ago
  • davzap
    • 0
      davzap  

    • Henry Ford used hemp to make a car. Hemp's value as a plastic source is exactly why it was banned to satisfy DuPont who had made nylon from petroleum, and they wanted to abscond the existing world hemp rope standard.

    • 2 years ago
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  

    • >"Up until now, scientists have always considered that the only possible way of producing plastic, one of the main materials in our civilization, is through modifying and altering fossil fuels, primarily oil."<

      Untrue.

      The first plastics were not petroleum products. Bakelite has nothing to do with petroleum products. The next generation of plastics were made from corn. Ford almost put out a plastic bodied automobile made from various grasses in the 40s. There is film of the guy demonstrating it by banging on the fender with a sledgehammer and watching it pop back.

      The reason plasic is made of petroleum, is that before plastic was invented that part of the petroleum process was considered waste. petroleum plastic was cheaper than organic plastic because the base material was effectively free.

      Therefore petroleum plastic IS recycling by definition. If we stop making petroleum plastic we will still have to do something with the petroleum byproducts.

      The aforementioned petroleum waste products are even more dangerous before they are turned into plastic. If we run out of petroleum we can always go back to organic plastic. It's not like we lost the technology. it's just that until we run out of oil it's a pretty stupid move.

    • 2 years ago
  • rickm8
    • 0
      rickm8  

    • Wait, but we make the plastics from the byproducts of gasoline refinement. So we'll still have those byproducts...

    • 2 years ago
  • Conniepae
  • threadpost
    • 0
      threadpost  

    • One thing the article doesn't seem to cover is end of life issues. Can this new product biodegrade or decompose when discarded? Anyone know?

    • 2 years ago
  • Conniepae
  • threadpost
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • HowdyDo
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