Viele Menschen gehen davon aus, dass wir noch viele Jahrzehnte lang fossile Brennstoffe benötigen werden, selbst wenn der gesamte Verkehr elektrifiziert wird. Aber so günstig ein Fass Öl auch sein mag, es ist unwahrscheinlich, dass es jemals so günstig wird wie ein Fass Kartoffelstärke. Ist die Zukunft der Petrochemie und der Kunststoffe also dem Untergang geweiht?
Diese Ergebnisse deuten nicht darauf hin, dass diese Technologie bereits für die kommerzielle Produktion bereit ist. Nur dann werden wir wissen, ob es eine günstigere Lösung ist als der Einsatz von Petrochemikalien. Da es jedoch so viele andere Gründe (Umwelt usw.) gibt, diesen Ansatz zu wählen, vermute ich, dass dies in Zukunft die Hauptmethode für die Kunststoffproduktion sein wird.
Will we need fossil fuels for plastics in the future? Spanish researchers hail a bioplastics breakthrough; direct conversion of cheap, minimally processed potato starch into a commercially relevant biodegradable polymer in a single biological step, via CRISPR.
byu/lughnasadh inFuturology
4 Kommentare
Plastics, plural. The paper suggests that they can make one type of plastic (PHB) out of potato starch and this plastic would be biodegradable. This means there’s a chance that this specific type of plastic can be manufactured without fossil fuels but taking into account how much money is involved here you can be sure that the oil companies will fight such technology with everything they have and they’re sure to use underhanded tactics if necessary. The important thing to note is that that PHB can’t be used as „plastics“ but as a „plastic“, this singular plastic can’t be used as substitute of any and all plastics.
The fall of fossil fuels will happen by one of two ways. First way is new tech that makes the fossil fuels obsolete. Second is that we run out of fossil fuels. If you think it from the oil companies view they’re choosing the option two for maximum monetary gain.
So I’d say that the fossil fuels will indeed be still used for decades.
The biggest problem is that they are using a food item as input. As soon as you are competing with the food sector its already a terrible idea for large scale application. That doesn’t mean that it’s not interesting from a research standpoint but it’s certainly not going to replace any kind of plastic anytime soon.
often thought this. when the barrels run dry what will we use for asphalt, tires, certain medical equipment? packaging can be easily replaced, but theres certain material qualities of oil derivatives that bio alternatives may not be able to replicate, if not properties but sheer speed of quantities and good ol fassion oil may become highly sort after, aka, we really should be rationing for key applications, like yesterday.
It comes down to two things: the physical properties of the polymer and the cost to make it. Making a biodegradable polymer is trivial. Making a polymer that is biodegradable and replicates the properties of incumbent polymers is not. A quick looks suggests that the polymer in this report, which has been known for at least 50 years, do not compete with common polymers used today.