Quote:
Originally Posted by deek
However, how are we going to cope in our future world without plastics (derived from hydrocarbons). Has much thought been given to this?
If we can't have fossil fuel then we can't have plastics either. How are we going to address this catastrophic problem. Just have a look around, I'll bet there are very few people on this vast planet that don't heavily depend on plastics in every day life. I think major life style changes will be required in the years to come.
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Hydrocarbons are chains consisting predominantly of carbon and hydrogen. They are the building blocks of life. Fossil fuels originated from living creatures, the original producers of the hyrdocarbons. As long as you have life you will have a potential supply of hydrocarbons. The issue is one of who you can convert those hydrocarbons into plastics and whether plastics are worth the resources required. Don't worry, they already make packaging that is transparent, waterproof etc from potato starch, and McGardener knows of some using corn starch. We don't depend upon fossil fuels for plastic manufature. The current industry is just based around the use of fossil fuels as the feedstock.