Petrochemicals - can we survive without them?

[@oisiaa]

LOVE this channel! You are talking about the big issues that nobody in the mainstream is even thinking about.

[@Africanhorror]

Industrial hemp is high in cellulose, uses less land and water, grows in 4 months and can restore damaged soil

[@markplott4820]

FORD motor made a car from HEMP , Stronger than Plastic.

[@christopherellis2663]

@@markplott4820 1937

[@christopherellis2663]

Same can be said for Flax, but that's not good enough for the trendoids

[@Africanhorror]

@Frenchpie you can grow it in arid/deforested/degraded land. It will restore the soil after 1 yr then you can plant trees there and start again in another area There's about 5 billion acres of deforested and desertified land around the world

[@mmmk6322]

Lol you guys actually think we can manage the climate by reducing production and changing materials. The only way is by nuclear fission and fusion to supply enough energy for carbon capture and geoengineering. These ideas of switching away from petrochemicals is reaching for your left ear with your right hand

[@rogerbarton497]

I thought was going to be all doom and gloom, but I'm encouraged by the amount of research that's going on.

[@davecarlson9088]

That's why we like him, no fearmongering, his videos are always hopeful. We can do this vs we're all going to die!!! I am wondering about breakdown after use, tossed on the side of the road, does it dissolved into a plant fertilizer in 5 years?

[@apacheattackhelicopter8185]

Yes but like he said, the cornerstone is land use. The amount of arable land in the world is finite while humans can reproduce endlessly. There should be a globally enforced 1 child policy, without it all efforts to stop climate change are doomed to fail.

[@brianwheeldon4643]

@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 Yes, I agree we do have to stop reproducing. Do you think as social justice, equity and fair share living standards are recognised & implemented that population levels will stabilise at lower levels as the European nations have demonstrated for a decade or more? Or we'll continue to increase despite the aforementioned? I don't know the probability, haven't worked the numbers or studied the subject. If we continue BAU we'll decline rapidly for certain starting in the next 15 years or so I would think, but that's another subject.

[@apacheattackhelicopter8185]

@@brianwheeldon4643 I think it depends on culture a lot. In countries where women are seen as equal to men and can get education and work, the birth rates will drop. But in countries where women are seen as inferior and only good for birthing children, they will remain high, e.g. Gulf and African countries. Also, even in European countries there needs to be an understanding that low birth rates are necessary. Right now they are bringing in African migrants and paying them child benefits to artificially inflate the birth rates.

[@davecarlson9088]

@@brianwheeldon4643 well, half the population have scared off all suitors. Ask how many men want a screaming Caren on their arm, the answer is zero problem solved. Some of our most psychotic leaders came from only child homes. China aborted almost a billion babies, all girls. They learned there weren't enough females for the number of men. A whole generation childless...

[@kylelopez9640]

I love you and this channel. Information without a political slant is increasingly rare these days. This is a valuable service that should be larger than it is

[@offgridwanabe]

I guess it depends on who signs your paycheck whether this channel is political or not

[@kylelopez9640]

OffGrid Wanabe that’s the problem

[@kylelopez9640]

OffGrid Wanabe science isn’t a political apparatus except when it is. Lol

[@bazoo513]

Sadly, nowadays everything is political. If it is fact-based, it will be accused of being "politically motivated". When it is "alt-fact" based, it is paid for by the other. That's quite simple.

[@offgridwanabe]

@@bazoo513 I agree but denial of facts seems to be common place with a lot of people, How can this be is the world flat lol

[@alexrosaen9616]

Nice work! An additional challenge: as we use less oil for energy, it will become cheaper, making it harder to stop using it for other uses.

[@ronkirk5099]

In U.S. pulp mills, the lignin which is dissolved in the spent pulping chemical is burned in boilers to produce steam to heat the pulping process and to spin turbines to generate electricity to power the mill so it isn't really wasted. During the lignin burning process, the pulping chemical is converted back to a sulfate for reuse in the mill. As far as making polymers from green plants is concerned, I worry that our industrial agriculture is already unsustainable due to surface and groundwater depletion, excessive soil erosion and reduced rainfall due to climate change. Granted if we weren't using so much our corn crop in the U.S. for ethanol production (a loser energy wise), we could feed more people, but even our current corn production is unsustainable. I'm old so I won't likely to see the crunch that comes in 10-20 years when world population reaches 9-10 billion, but I worry for future generations.

[@weldonyoung1013]

Well said !

[@anywhereroam9698]

Don’t worry a war will probably wipe a bunch out before then. Joking!

[@Kevin_Street]

I think you've really got something there, SheepTrees. Could that sort of thing be done on an industrial scale?

[@Kevin_Street]

So these algae farms would be right on the coast? It sounds like they need to be as close as possible to the sea for easy access to saltwater. The areas you mention certainly have a lot of arid land next to oceans.

[@Kevin_Street]

If anything that should make it easier to eventually use algae farms for the production of different petrochemicals. All they'd have to do is change the refining technique at the end of the process.

[@mackfisher4487]

David, new tier channel I wanted to thank you for making me think about the important topics that you raise. Your videos are well organized and the subject matter will presented, your pronunciation chemical names is remarkable. When selecting products I usually just recognize the word and don't even try to pronounce them.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Mack. I really appreciate your support. All the best. Dave

[@Yanquetino]

You've become my weekly enciclopedia reading, Dave! I've commented in Patreon, as I find the trolls are taking over KZbin, just like Twitter.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Mark. I'll head over to Patreon after checking out all the comments here :-)

[@wezy002]

I love this channel, well researched, but still understable for a non-expert without a politacal angle. Thank you for your service.

[@gianluigicassin868]

As a chemist and working in the coating and polymer business, I had a look at some of the monomers you mentioned (FDCA and itaconic) and they worked as well as the petrol counterparts. That was a couple of years ago and the price point and the availability were the bottlenecks. I guess with economy of scale they may be overcome. As several other topics, they really get a boost when some new legislation forces producers to use alternatives, lika what is happening with bisphenol and the like.

[@arturoeugster2377]

AS A CHEMIST, Gianluigi, you must know that any plant through photosynthesis must capture, through the stomata 1.467 kg of your dreaded co2 in the air for every kg glucose it produces. How about having a think, considering that the co2 content is 0.49 Gram/m³ air.

[@gianluigicassin868]

@@arturoeugster2377 yeah, photosynthesis takes CO2 from the air and produces sugars, when sun light is available. Modern building blocks, like those I mentioned, can be made via enzymatic catalysis, accelerating natural paths dramatically. Some raw material producers are now marketing those. The only issue, still is price

[@arturoeugster2377]

@@gianluigicassin868 I am all for efficiency or other improvements , that includes tasks , which have just a potential, to be realized with a key invention, not apparent at the time.. Our problem, is the accute lack of co2 content in the low density air, due to high elevation and higher than standard temperatures 0.22 grams/m³. The region has 10^6 empoverised people. The threat of negative co2 growth, as planned must be taken seriously. So, supplemental local co2 addition is a doable approach. Bolivians have never been able to win concessions from any Power. Any way the construction of a continious supply of housing is happening, and the normal cement production by the decalcification of lime stone produces large amounts of co2, that no Nation can deny us. a great deal threre of will be dedicated to plastic enclosed tents. The relocation of cement factories to the region, supports 2 activities. Building and Feeding. All options are open.

[@markt7663]

Thanks, especially for commenting on not rushing to solutions that may be worse than the problem.

[@ramblerandy2397]

As a Rambler member [the clue is in the name], I seasonally receive "Walk" magazine. The last few issues have arrived in potato starch plastic bags and it has been thoroughly successful. I've kept the bags [they look identical, apart from telling me that they are NOT petrochemical plastic] and after a good period of leaving them aside, where they have been utterly stable, I am going to leave them in sunlight and leave them in water. Just to see what happens. They should degrade fairly quickly. Just one example of an excellent plant based chemical that completely replaces the petrochemical variety. Excellent video today Dave.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Totally agree Andy. We're changing over to starch based carrier bags at the place where I work, and I think they are a great solution where packing or bags are unavoidable.

[@ramblerandy2397]

@@JustHaveaThink From my experience I think the word needs to get out regarding potato starch wrapping. Get production ramped up. Hundreds of uses where it could replace plastic. 👍

[@dewiz9596]

I’ve certainly witnessed the pine forests of North Carolina, which seem to go from seedling to harvest in less than 30 years. I only recently learned that these harvested trees were largely going to pellet mills, to feed electricity production in Europe. I’m not a resident of NC, but have been travelling there for Spring Cycling since 1990 (this year excepted, for the obvious reasons). This has provided me with a kind of “stop action” movie of land use there. In addition to golf courses, a lot of land is being converted the Solar Farms. . . the one situated at Derby, NC, not far from Pinehurst, being the largest I’ve ever seen. Which gives me hope.

[@ashoakwillow]

Yes, lots of positive developments thanks Dave, and that necessary note of caution about land use. It really does focus attention on our 'throw-away culture'. My parents didn't waste much back in the fifties and early sixties, and it looks like the culture has developed, with the assistance of the marketing industry, in the space of about 60 years, or around two generations. My resolution this year was to cut right back on buying drinks in plastic bottles, but i have been re-using these marvels of lightweight design time and time again when going out for exercise or outings. A further advantage is that the plasticiser (phalates etc) which infuses into the contents reduces with repeated use, as plasticises have been linked with health issues, such as the global fall in sperm count. Eventually bottles become brittle and crack, but i have yet to lose one this year.

[@njm3211]

Don't forget asphalt for pavement and roofing products. All petrochemicals.

[@BrantAxt]

Yes but it's not part of the "top 3" that he mentions in this video because 98% of asphalt is recycled

[@MajorMalfunction]

@@BrantAxt It's also the "tailings". The leftovers after distillation. It's a "waste" product, but it's useful for roads.

[@jimbob-jn6jz]

@@MajorMalfunction Its useful for lowering earth albido which is really bad.

[@vernonbrechin4207]

Thank you for your in-depth research on this topic and your balanced presentation. One should note that the production of these alternative petro-chemical substitutes was not compared to the current monitory costs of the chemicals that they are intended to replace.

[@earlgibbs7083]

Our ever-increasing addiction to energy consumption per capita is our species' existential downfall. In other words, infinite growth on a finite planet is utter insanity for the possibility of a near term future for most life forms on earth.

[@cobia1794]

Earl, did you by chance learn the term 'existential' from those people that are now promoting the new term... 'Re-imagine' police reform... boy they use such big words and must be very smart!.. How's that working so far... I see more tree huggin Subaru drivers parking in front of my house running their car with the AC on, sometimes for an hour or more looking in their phone or viewing the eagles by the lake in front of my house on a warm day.. All the time.. WTF gives.. I've filled up twice since this wuflu shit started in my rig and I ain't not tree hugger, but retired existential professional beer drinker

[@mdombroski]

infinite stasis on a finite planet is the real malthusian insanity. BTW there are other planets with resources.

[@robbenvanpersie1562]

@@mdombroski we can't go there tho

[@mdombroski]

@@robbenvanpersie1562 Tell that to Elon Musk.

[@PalimpsestProd]

Damn it! At a quick glance I thought this said "Can we survive without Pterodactyls?"

[@JustHaveaThink]

Well obviously we can't survive without them ;-)

[@Elviloh]

It's actually about Pterodactlys juice to be precise.

[@colinc5269]

I find myself watching the inbox for notification of your next ..........love the facts ...the un-political , unbiased and yet positive outlook on the worst our world has faced to date . It's the unseen elephant in the room . The money behind the reality of our world . The people and the planet comes second to profit. ..yet there is a glimmer of hope . You make my brain ache - but it's like your first taste of beer .......you seemingly have to come back for more. luv it .

[@leroybabcock6652]

Excellent point about diving headlong without "just having a think"!

[@Daniel-gq4vw]

Of course yes. Bioengineering adn a renaissance in hemp use should replace most of plastics

[@flodjod]

and hemp can be a 3x a year crop in most regions

[@gordonlawrence1448]

There is already a biological alternative to plastic developed 30 years ago. Nobody w9ill use it as it's patented and they want to keep the money for themselves. I know one of the guys that worked on it.

[@Elviloh]

and algae !

[@adam-g7crq]

Hemp the magic weed probably one of the most useful plant ever one of strongest natural fibres, vegetable oil from its seeds can produce all sorts of things from that food or many other bio chemicals good nitrogen fixing crop the list goes on and on can grow in nearly every where even hydroponically, I find it funny that Dupont is getting into bio chemicals after probation in the states Dupont was one of the companies which helped ban hemp in the late 1920's

[@gustavosantillan5242]

No mention of Industrial Hemp on this video maybe is because a lot of people still ignorant about it

[@LewisLudwig]

At least he brought up the land use issue. Something tells me this is pie in the sky thinking that these chemicals can replace more than about 5% of the plastics and synthetics that come from oil. That subject was not addressed at all, probably because this strategy has no hope of significantly cutting into the market for petrochemicals.

[@TheNightwalker247]

Thank you for actually considering the question of "we can do it but should we?" A lot of scientists forget that they should ask if they should not just if they could.

[@BernardLS]

TheNightwalker247 like the chemist who put lead in petrol and ozone depleter stuff in your refrigerator?

[@rodmcshane2889]

Thanks for a wonderful channel. As I understand it plastics sourced from plant based sources are little better than plastics derived from fossil fuels (fossil fuels are of course already 100% organic). In your article you seemed to concentrate on the source of the plastics rather than their biodegradability, but the biodegradability is the real problem. I know some work has been done on improving this in plastics, but I've only seen progress on composting under commercial conditions so far, which unfortunately excludes household composting and of course these plastics would probably not degrade in a landfill or a sea either. I would be very interested on seeing an article from you on progress made in plastics which are fully compostable under normal household composting methods (in approx 6 months or so).

[@danhammond8406]

Edilus bamboo is a rich source of lignin and is also edible as shoots. It also grows up to 3 feet a day

[@dokenboken5542]

I'm not convinced of a significant impact of humans on global temperature. Pollution is a problem however. I am convinced that as the highest form of life on this planet (as far as we know), it is our responsibility to take care of it, as it is our home, and the home of our progeny. We should pursue all technologies that benefit the environment and benefit of all life on this planet, ours included.

[@matjazbogacz-udovc4678]

Lignin is a really good idea in my opinion. Especially in Europe, where we have a massive paper industry, based on conifer trees that have a larger proportion of lignin to celulose in comparison to other fast growing trees like bamboo or eucaliptus trees. Also conifer trees grow in places that are not so suitable for farming, they can occupy rocky terrain, tolerate poor soils and even cold northern climates. Really a good idea, but it will have to contend with biomass-as-fuel use, since it has comparably high energy density. Looking forward to see further developments in this field.

[@jameswest4819]

The amazing thing is, we have the ability to make oil, sustainably, from all of our organic garbage and sewage and any kind of plant or animal matter. We have already done it with heat and pressure. That oil can be made into the same things petroleum is made into and don't tell me we don't have enough garbage and sewage. The biggest thing we need to create the oil is electrical power. That power could be made from natural sources whenever those sources were operational or from the up and coming molten salt reactors.

[@drlocums9509]

I am jealous of how good you are this. These vids are fabulous.

[@johanneskingma]

@14:17 my moment of fame 😁. You make a magnificanft extremely informed channel. Thank you!

[@davidkomet8]

Plant based replacements like PLA can have very high environmental impacts because of the industrial farming supply chain. Proper life cycle assessment is critical for all proposed substitutes!

[@marcusj1710]

At least in terms of PE and PET, you forgot to mention the depolymization technologies, that allow for 100% recycling of Virgin plast waste. Rather than making new plasts, we can reuse what we have already.

[@DavidBrown-gb7ro]

Great videos, keep them coming. I am all for the sustainability push in industry but I think an important factor we should address when trying to determine the right solution is cost. For ethylene glycol (an industry which I research and forecast for a living), my numbers estimate that bio-based production capacity is just 250,000 tonnes/year. Conversely, your fossil fuel-based production capacity accounts for 40,500,000 tonnes/year. Also, a growing slice of that production capacity uses coal as a feedstock. Why? Bio is an expensive route, I calculate that you need a crude oil price of at least $65 and even nearer to $80 per barrel for it to be competitive. Subsequently the "plant bottle" movement seems to have drifted into the background. And the focus has shifted more to recycling. Also, with any packaging a life-cycle analysis gives a true assessment. Plastic gets a bad rep but I've seen data that would make anyone cringe when alternatives are proposed. Plastic waste is a major problem and I'd recommend anyone to check out the Alliance to End Plastic Waste group's website, who are trying to tackle this. Maybe you can look at future videos on plastic recycling (mechanical and chemical) as well as life cycle analysis of packaging materials: plastic vs. glass vs. card, etc.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

I worry about the land use and carbon footprint of bio-based chemicals. It might be worth looking at where the CO2 comes from in making petrochemicals from oil. Oil is distilled and fractionated, and that requires a lot of heat. Currently the heat is provided by burning hydrocarbons. I think this industrial process heat represents the majority of the CO2 produced. It should be possible to use a different source of heat that was clean. It would be good to concentrate on the highest volume petrochemical products, like plastics, and ignore the minor ones like perfume, so as to not spread ourselves too thin. As long as the plastics aren't burned, the carbon contained in them remains sequestered. If it eventually ends up in a landfill, then it's just going back in the ground that it came from, and it never gets into the atmosphere. That is not a bad outcome.

[@rlsingle00]

I really enjoy your content. Lots to think about. Please keep up the great work.

[@helenlawson8426]

One alternative to expanded polystyrene is mycelium (or if you're me mushroom packaging). The more they look in to mycelium the more possible uses they are finding, it's very interesting stuff. By its very nature it doesn't require valuable farm land or light and so could be the answer to what will survive and grow in a Student Flat. :)

[@bigtop1967]

I wish we were investing in these thing like our lives depended on it! They do! Brilliant informative video as usual. Thank you.

[@apacheattackhelicopter8185]

I hope you realize that not every problem can be solved just by dumping money on it

[@bigtop1967]

@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 True - but MANY can.

[@nc3826]

How about low tech alternative such as taxing one use plastics? And going back to paper and glass. For example reusing glass containers, by returning them to a store that got its products and goods in bulk containers (that could be reused too). That could use automate cleaning and refilling of the glass containers. Which would also be far more efficient way to transport the good. Since it not only reuses the containers and moving part of the production closer to the consumer... Just a thought.... (sorry I'm not cool enough to say "Just Have a Think")

[@acmefixer1]

Glass containers have been used for millennia. But I know of at least two people who were seriously injured by a broken glass container. Glass has advantages and disadvantages. The bottles can be made safe by being replaced by thick, multiple use plastic, just like the water delivery companies did with the 5 gallon (19 liter) plastic water bottles, which used to be glass.

[@nc3826]

AF, I agree, we should understand the risks and trades offs of all of the packaging materials we use and consume over our lifetime. Such as plastic bottles including BPA, that injures all of us without, us fully knowing all the effects (including straws, bag and all one use plastic) . Also the recyclable glass containers were virtually indestructible in normal use. They had to be, since they went thru an automated cleaning machine, that would have broke a normal glass container. Saw some soda/pop bottles that were covered in scratches and nicks, without breaking. FWIW, I knew a sandwich shop owner who was seriously injured by the lid from a tin can container. BTW I know I'm in the minority in our, one use throwaway society.... That prefer the easy route, of having feel good bio-plastics replace evil-petro plastics, even if they are often worse over their life cycle. Since growing the bio feedstocks for them has a cost too....

[@CarlAlex2]

Actually the change from glass to PET for softdrink bottles has significantly reduced the impact of transporting softdrinks. Just try to remember how heavy those glass bottles used to be. And PET is reuasble too.

[@nc3826]

Actually its just pathetic plastic industry 'propaganda' to mention plastic is recyclable.... Since the fact is we are drowning in discarded plastic waste, including PET and locally reused glass containers had and would have a far lower footprint than making the pile discarded plastic grow even higher...SMH

[@CarlAlex2]

@@nc3826 Just bacause you are incapable of handling your garbage properly doesnt mean everyone else is too. We DO NOT have any huge piles of discarded PET bottles here in Denmark since most of them by far are in our recycling system - a system we had in place for glass bottles long before PET was invented. There are people who go actively hunting for discarded bottles to get the refund for handing them in at the store. We also have an extensive up to date system taking care of the collection and handling of our garbage. Non-recyclable plastic can be used as fuel to generate electricity and heat, so why let it drown you when its so easy to safely dispose of ? That they just throw eveything into the local river thast hen takes everything to sea in countries like Vietnam doenst mean that it CANNOT be handled properly - just that they cannot be bothered to. Why do you claim the PET cannot be recycled when it evidently is ?

[@abe1091]

Very interesting video. I currently carry out research in Kraft lignin depolymerization at a university in Japan. I think a lot of the potential for lignin will come when the demand for gasoline and diesel from the petrochemical industry drops, thus, making the co-production of aromatics by that route no longer as-profitable.

[@gordonlawrence1448]

One of the things that drives me bat $hit crazy is that we had a solution for the nitrogen fertiliser issue in the Medieval period. At the time farmers just knew crop rotation was a good idea and that peas did something that made the next years crop of something else grow better. Now we know that a bacteria in the pea roots fixes nitrogen quite well. We have got out of the habit of eating as many peas as our ancestors did. If we paid the farmers a decent amount for them and ate peas instead of some other forms of carbohydrates that would be far better than artificial fertilisers. Yes they have a much lower percentage of carbs than many other carbs sources but that would be a good thing for many people.

[@expressionoffreedom7165]

You're right, but you could just eat more peas and if you convinced other people to do that, you'd naturally adjust supply and demand. If nobody bought corn it's price would collapse.

[@Elviloh]

@@expressionoffreedom7165 If nobody bought corn its price would explode, because its production would reflect the consumption, so it would become rare and expensive. But corn is mainly used for the livestock, isn't it ?

[@zakuro8532]

peas and beans are tasty

[@expressionoffreedom7165]

@@Elviloh if everybody ate more peas they have to eat less meat as well.

[@chrisdaniels3929]

I thought you were going to state that urine is the best fertiliser of all the organic additives for soil, (blood etc). Not fully utilised these days. Don't they put those nutrients in the rivers? But no. A different variety of pee.

[@sigmacentauri6191]

I used to drive an 84 Mercedes 300D with lettering in the back windshield that the new owner still sports “make biodiesel not war” thanks for making this episode. As a lover of vegan food I Admire these “vegan” planet based solutions. You made no mention of algae as the feed stock though. It grows so much faster than anything else. Hemp should also be recommended before Monsanto corn that requires those horrible chemicals.

[@MattAngiono]

I'm glad you added the perspective at the end! We must begin to look at every ecosystem holistically and really understand EVERY impact of letting capitalism loose on the environment....

[@brianwheeldon4643]

Agree Matt angiono:Rather change capitalism and give ourselves and the living planet a helping hand. Acting in a considered way without undue influence and coprporate/oloigarchical pressures. Deliberative Democracy would be a great help in this.

[@MattAngiono]

@@brianwheeldon4643 I feel like ANY democracy would be pretty nice for Americans right now lol.... It would be nice for everyone in fact

[@Kevin_Street]

Thanks for another great video! And respect for pronouncing all those chemical names so well. I'm more of a physics guy, so this petrochemical stuff seems like magic to me. Figuring out appropriate land management techniques for the production of the feed stock will be critical, of course. But I wonder if at least some of the feed stocks could eventually be grown from genetically engineered bacteria in "bioreactors" or something similar. There's a push to make agriculture more scientific and managed with things like vertical farming, so maybe the same could be done for petrochemicals.

[@expressionoffreedom7165]

I'm really starting to like your channel.

[@evilotto9200]

lacks the existential horror or rabid denial populating other climate change platforms

[@expressionoffreedom7165]

@@evilotto9200 Dosent really matter how you feel about it as long as something gets done. Most people only react through fear. It's the easiest emotion to manipulate. The problems the same either way.

[@sergior.]

@@evilotto9200 oh there's some existential horror too, just not as much thankfully

[@trandel]

As I reportedly need to point out to the RE lobby you need to understand the consequences means the tech isn't as friendly as it's being marketed to be. For example chopping down acres of trees to install wind or solar. So, thanks for pointing this out. We are already in the grip of a global water crisis, so any plant based tech needs to have a sustainable management plan.

[@cmaxbite]

I was engaged by this episode but I was shocked not hear mention of Hemp, a source of bio plastics, graphene and food. 1 acre of hemp produces the equivalent of 5 acres of trees and locks up carbon into the bargain! ?

[@bryandepaepe5984]

The base chemicals used to make plastics are a waste by product of crude oil refining to make gasoline and other products. The alternatives to petrochemical based plastics do not have the same properties and usually are not as durable requiring more frequent replacement. This was the primary reasons for switching to plastics in the first place, not only were they cheaper to make but did a better job at their intended purpose and the chemicals used to make them were going to waste.

[@-LightningRod-]

Wow , just wow, a new app and Your Channel grows by leaps and bounds, ... and the drawrings, ... just wow! I simply can not thank YOU enough for all of the , ... ammunition that YOU arm us with every single episode. This one is particular i will take particular delight in using on a certain segment of Canadian Society who's power's appear to be derived directly from the drilling,tapping and transport of the filthy New Green Carbon free OIL and Gas, .... simply a ridiculous concept permeating the pundits of Oil and Gas industries in North America. Even Henry Ford recognized the possibilities as his original vehicle was powered by Alcohol (Thanks goto Irving Oil and Womens Temperance Movement for stopping this madness) He manufactured, painted and fueled a vehicle completely with industrial hemp Thank YOU for all of YOUR efforts

[@delburnwalter2024]

I'd like to see an analysis of how much petrochemical-derived energy would be required to grow and harvest the feedstocks, transport them to the factories, convert them into these new plastics, and replace them in whatever usage they were originally being used for. I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't be more carbon intensive than merely using the petroleum as feedstocks in the first place.

[@musaran2]

Energy and processes can be made "green", the only question is cost. I suspect only waste biomass (mostly cellulose or methane) and direct production via bio-engineering are viable. Extracting oil & sugar from crops is basically food, it will forever remain more expensive. Also, any carbon product ending sequestrated may be subsidized.

[@delburnwalter2024]

@@musaran2 Maybe so, but I'm still very skeptical. I don't see how the enormous amount of stored energy that fossil fuels contain can be replaced by 'sustainable' sources. As Sid Smith tells us (see attached video link), fossil fuels aren't really a primary energy source; they're actually just energy carriers that the sun 'charged up' over hundreds of millions of years. I'm not signing on to any version of green technology until I see a comprehensive spreadsheet that accounts for all energy flows in the system. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4izc2Wrbaqtgpo

[@ArthursHD]

4:13 What about synthetic fertilizer, diesel, and machinery used for growing crops. Glue from wood sounds promising :) Although we should use less paper, to begin with :)

[@ThomasBomb45]

Nature has been fertilizing plants for years... millions of them! Permaculture, organic farming, etc are becoming more popular and don't require artificial fertilizers

[@Withnail1969]

​@@ThomasBomb45 have you ever done any farming?

[@AlainDuchesneau]

Best video in some time. Liked the comment about initial intent from biomass industries being screwed up with their plan as they finished burning their first by-products…

[@fastfreddy19641]

Bloody well done for being able to pronounce those chemical names. 👍

[@fastfreddy19641]

@@Azureecosse no I really meant it

[@brawndo8726]

PLA is only biodegradable in a high heat environment IIRC. It's not the panacea we've been led to believe. It also increases demand for farmland so it's a few steps removed from burning down the rainforest...

[@zdb79]

We love the portrait.... great video today!

[@gypsyjr1371]

Fuel, lubrication, medical drugs, building materials, kitchen utensils, metal coatings, paint, lots of things. Can we survive without them? Not terribly well. Most of the polymers listed as substitutions have trouble scaling production up to the level needed, and even if they can, the cost is several times more than petrochemical polymers being used today. Its like electric tractor trailers. A good idea, but not one that scales economically well.

[@rebeccaaldrich3396]

That's why we need to stop driving soon. We all must make huge changes in our consumption of everything.

[@Withnail1969]

No, you stop if you want. Don't force others to follow your ideas.

[@poly518]

Itaconix definitely worth buying some shares. Only valued at £7.5million and company is growing exponentially.

[@ww07ff]

Seaweed can be the source for PLA production, releasing the pressure over forests or food production.

[@Billybobble1]

Such a quality channel, thank you for your hard work bringing us this information.

[@offgridwanabe]

We have the simple choice in this time and can trade of the use of Oil for fuel to electricity but in the future the choice will be food or stuff for life.

[@Elviloh]

Next problem will be water. Droughts mean thirst for the people and animals, and dead plants. So hunting and farming for millions ? nope. The only way is to find alternatives, or reduce population to a sustainable level (world population never exceeded a billion before the industrial revolution).

[@the_hanged_clown]

oh I get it, you're trolling haha

[@the_hanged_clown]

@@ElvilohBill Gates has plans for decreasing world population, among other things.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoTZmYOkisyssJo

[@istvanmeszaros4112]

Such a great channel!!! Thank you for all this great research!

[@bilgyno1]

Thanks for this nice overview. I think there's room for a lot of more detailed follow up, however. There are some Biobased companies working on the land use problem as well. E.g. Miscanthus grass (fast growing, high in cellulose) on barren lands. Or mechanised seaweed farms out in sea (takes fertilizer pollution and co2 from the water). Then there's fermentation with agriculture rest streams as feed stock. The big challenge is scaling up. And we need to change the mindset that these alternatives are only viable if they are cost competitive with fossil sources. Point is: we need to #KeepItInTheGround and simply move on to new solutions. Maybe that means some consumer goods will become more expensive. So be it.

[@ronb8066]

You rock! Your channel is a light beacon of honest knowledge in the rubbish pile of disinformation in these dark days. All the best of success.

[@electronresonator8882]

Cyrene sounds good to me, because it utilize LGO which exist in all plants cell walls, ....yes, the keyword is plants, which means that grass is also part of it, therefore we can use bamboos which is also categorized as grass, ...growing at 6 mm per minutes is the fastest growing plant in the world, by utilizing bamboos to absorb C02 as it grows and use the LGO in it to replace petrochemicals, the plants become so useful to combat global warming, it grows so quickly therefore it has ability to fill the demand of the LGO economically, and even better as it multiplies by growing from the root, which means less problem to make a bamboo forest

[@Redshift5265]

This is wonderful information. Thank you for creating this content!

[@Amuzic_Earth]

We must remember something . More often than not Polymers/plastics made from bio source or biomass is still chemically identical/equivalent to plastics made from petrochemicals and hence non bio-degradable. So, unless it's absolutely required for a particular application, we should focus and promote the companies which are making or struggling to make bio degradable plastic alternatives made from bio source.

[@johndoyle4723]

Thanks, it does make you think, I think we will be remembered as "The oil age", with the subscript, " and they used up all of it". It is very hard to say leave the oil in the ground rather than use it to make drugs to cure people, we will use it all, and only stop when it is gone. Yes as you say land usage is the new battle ground. Disclosure my entire career was in recycling petrochemical products, I processed millions of tons, for re-use.

[@az09letters92]

Nitrogen fertilizers you can produce out of air (and currently natural gas). But I'd be way more worried about where to get phosphorus. Lack of phosphorus could really hit world agricultural production badly.

[@chuckkottke]

Dave, another excellent presentation! And you are keenly aware of the caveots surrounding biomass solutions; many thanks. I like bioplastics, they make good sense from many perspectives, but one concern I have is will they eventually break down and not clog up our oceans and lakes? And maybe we need to focus more on quality over quantity, making better products that are both eco friendly and truly durable, like a Rolls Royce approach to goods? That and the dark force of our energy universe, insulation and efficiency vs. more production, might help in the cooling sector. Keep on making great waves in the presentations, you're a bright spot in our otherwise gloomy news world!!

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Chuck. Much appreciated :-)

[@Bunbaroness]

"Nice try, Kaiba, but I activate the Trap Card DEPOLYMERIZATION! This converts the lignins in your wood and straw into flavorings, antioxidants, and polyamides!"

[@martinknapp7640]

The other elephant in the room is that almost all these replacement bio-chemicals that you mention seem to be made from corn or sugar cane, which themselves absorb huge quantities of... wait for it... petrochemicals, in the form of diesel fuel to drive machinery, and ammonium nitrates as fertiliser. Over and above the land use problem, there is a simple energy problem. Producing n amounts of plastic, whether bio-chemical or petrochemical, in the end means a certain amount of energy is being used. If you need more energy to produce the stuff than is readily available then you need to get energy from somewhere else, and at the moment that means basically, out of the ground. Which is why the problem will also have to be addressed from the use end, by greatly reducing the amount of plastic that we use in the first place. In the UK, it seems almost impossible to buy vegetables in the supermarket without it being packed in masses of plastic, for example.

[@mdombroski]

You can find examples of the opposite case in Michael Shellenberger's excellent, Apocalypse Never, such as plastics replacing tortoise shell glasses and saving sea turtles.

[@acmefixer1]

Shellenberger is a shill for the nuclear power industry. He makes so many spurious claims that I and many others don't trust him. There is nothing wrong with nuclear power, but the industry doesn't need people who falsify information about nuclear power.

[@mdombroski]

@@acmefixer1 If you're going to accuse Shellenberger of making many spurious claims, I'd think you'd at least include an example or two.

[@mheijne2]

Another source may be the production of methane or methanol from water and carbondioxide which can form the basis of almost all currently known petrochemicals.

[@Elviloh]

Methane won't be a problem in the arctic and permafrost, we just need to find a clever way to harness it.

[@jimgraham6722]

Yes, this is excellent technology, it has been proven at lab scale and has potential to scale up producing petrochemicals at near the landed cost of the current brew. It is energy intensive and best matched to nuclear energy sources particularly molten salt reactors where high temperature can be used to facilitate the process. One vision is nuclear powered factory tanker ships, cruising the ocean generating petrochemicals as they go. They would pull CO2 out of the ocean and put oxygen back. They could also do desal making freshwater. Overall this is no more an outrageous idea than having hundreds of supertankers ply the earth's oceans as we currently do.

[@parajacks4]

The sabatier reaction takes energy. Microbes make methane from organic waste for free. With the right setup a household can easily make enough gas to cook with.

[@waynebow-gu7wr]

@@Elviloh I wouldn't be worrying to much about permafrost methane.... natural gas will add a thousand times more methane to the atmosphere. Methane is energy, and energy cant be destroyed. So when you burn methane, it just reforms somewhere else. Then after about 10 years it turns into carbon dioxide. So if they were serious about reducing CO2..... they wouldn't be fracking !

[@Cyores]

Thank you! Top quality content in every video and remarkable presenting. Always looking forward to all your new videos.

[@JustHaveaThink]

Much appreciated! Thank you :-)

[@turningpoint4238]

Tony Seba's ReThinkX has published a paper on fermentation farming (free on their website) and although this is focused on the cattle industry in the USA has massive implications in many industries. Basically it seems we can make just about any molecule we want the way we make beer, get fungus or bacteria to make it in a vat. This looks to be cheap and very good at producing the molecule you want, not making do with whats about in nature. We will be able to create far better plastics with the qualities we want, but really the list of molecules is from a human perceptive infinite (not of course), apparently there are more combinations of proteins than their are atoms in the universe. But the tech can go even further than ReThinkX takes it, I'm no expert but providing energy from electricity seems to be possible (there are bacteria that naturally do) so not even needing to feed them with sugars. The implications of this tech are staggering, please read the paper.

[@no_more_free_nicks]

Actually air conditioning can be pretty well supported by solar power, you need to cool when the Sun is shining, I live in a block of flats, so I cannot get solar, but if I will be living in a house, I would immediately install PV for the purpose to pay less for cooling.

[@terrynunn4643]

I always enjoy your videos and find them very informative. I often share them on a Facebook group I manage " Help the environment ", I hope you don't mind. Keep up the good work.

[@KJensenStudio]

So many great thoughts on here, I feel like I've been at the Brain Market! Seems to me that we need to bring back small farming, as the megafarms regardless of what they're growing will never be able to produce anything other than monocrops. They're not set up for it. Smaller holdings and co-ops worked well. Trucks though, yeah, that's a big one. I heard the Air Car people are implementing them in France?

[@voidremoved]

even most small farming is done wrong. You need large scale farming but do away with monocrops. Done right you will not really need to do anything, no plow, no fertilizer it will take care of itself as God intended. This is the real problem that greed tried to own everything. So much that they would intentionally make food in China and ship it to america, then make the same food in America but ship it to China, because they can make more money by having the shipping industry too. Instead, we need garden cities, surrounded by food forests. Then your food comes from very near and wont need plastic wrap or a transport truck or refrigeration. But there you see, plastic wrap, refrigeration, trucks they can make money off of necessitating these unnecessary industries. Sadly we may owe our thanks to Antifa and BLM at least they are trying to do something about it. we have to stop this evil machine now.

[@65j20e58w35]

Do an episode about open ocean kelp aquaculture. The most efficient, and sustainable source of biomass. The climate foundation has good work on it.

[@cobia1794]

Do they use gasoline or electricity to run the equipment at any stage

[@65j20e58w35]

If the kelp farms are big enough you can power your machines with methane, or bioethanol derived from kelp. Just like any renewable industry in the world, it requires a fossil fuel input to get it started, and scaled.

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

One thing NONE of the commenters mention is how growing hemp, or anything including potatoes and corn, degrades soil and erodes topsoil. That's a looming problem.

[@thinker8682]

Why no food processing and production competition was included? Also, why some of the products that cannot be produced from biomass were not included and commented on? Also, what about economy of scale and production costs and efficiencies that makes petrochemicals more attractive? Also, why no comment on developing countries and their NEED for cheap, reliable, petrochemical products? It's a great and well researched video, don't get me wrong. But I think it is one-sided and does not convey the real complexity behind these issues and topics.

[@Withnail1969]

he's feeding the delusions of the green lobby. ultimately it's dangerous as these delusions are becoming more and more widespread.

[@stephennielsen8722]

I’m convinced that any petrochemical can be synthesized in a net carbon neutral way. It’s all a matter of getting ground up additive manufacturing cost down below the costs of the extraction and derivative processes

[@jimgraham6722]

Yes, see m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4a4fq1pittjptU

[@goddardwb]

Pyrolysis allows harvesting energy while utilizing residual carbon as an excellent building material with no released CO2

[@stucrawford6230]

The new app looks great :)

[@JustHaveaThink]

Thanks Stu. Glad to hear that :-)

[@f.demascio1857]

Going to get the app now! Thanks!

[@BernardLS]

Some ‘tree juice’ or ‘black liquor’ as it is called in the trade is used to produce biodiesel for feeding to Mummies SUV.

[@acmefixer1]

Diesel and other vehicles will have to be fueled by fuels derived from green energy. The one alternative being proposed is hydrogen.

[@BernardLS]

@@acmefixer1 Hej. I am among the sinners, but do just wish we all though about whether or not we need to make that trip (any journey). Having spent my working life in and around the FOG (Fossil Oil & Gas) industry and been a committed & concerned environmental worrier (not a spelling mistake) while not being fully 'anti' in the Extinction Rebellion mold the reckless use of 'stuff' and irresponsible breeding habits of 'those people' do get my ire on the boil. Here ends the rant, sorry.

[@charlesashurst1816]

The amazing Charlie predicts: The Great Carbon Rush. When corporate America realizes there's a bonanza in utilizing atmospheric carbon and sunlight to replace petrochemicals, we'll have to tax them for extracting too much carbon out of the atmosphere.

[@oldoneeye7516]

that post actually made me laugh

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

The carbon from natural gas can be used. And some day the technology may exist to utilize clathrates.

[@cobia1794]

Charles, You're so right.. Great twist, i love it!

[@cobia1794]

@@alfonsomunoz4424 Wow... such a deep subject Al... If we can put Democrats on mars we can extract that also without a tax..

[@Misclaneous]

An interesting field of research re biofuels and their valorized derivatives, is that of 2nd gen biofuels. This entails taking the lignocellulose component of food crops such as corn and sugarcane, which would otherwise go to waste, and turning it into fuels/chemicals. This would really help to reduce land use.

[@FischiPiSti]

So sad to see so many researches in different fields getting ignored. Governments and the public are only aware of the energy generation part of the equation, even tho some of these researches could potentially not only be more environmentally friendly, but also (more) economically viable. Environmentalists need to push the economic benefit side of things if they ever want to sway public perception and get the attention of both governments and corporations.

[@Cy5208]

If possible get Nate Hagens and Richard Heinberg on to discuss this and related problems. There is more than one elephant that you have missed on this topic as you also have to look at volumes of and numbers products that need to be replaced and the energy/oil not only to do it but do this within an energy transition.

[@renacimientoargentino7515]

When hear "Can we survive without X-thing" the first think i think is, of course we can, anyone car survive without petroleum or gas, or electricity, because they are not part of basic human needs like food water or shelter You never have enough of what you dont need, and people like buying stuff that they dont need. In the case of petrochemicals the yield to finished goods is much lower because many of them are intermediaries and catalysts They will be disposed by burning them or converting petrochemical waste (plastics, solvents, intermediary chemicals) into syngas and burning them to generate electricity , and then capturing that to create synthfuel from dehydrogenated methanol.

[@MikeAG333]

Air conditioning....yes, a huge issue, I agree. However, everyone seems to be pushing heat pumps as the future for domestic heating, and that is simply air conditioning with a good publicist.

[@PaulLemars01]

As always, brilliant. I downloaded the app for my phone and it works perfectly. A but of a problem is my tablet which I feel is a better format for your content. I use a Fire tablet but unfortunately there's not a version for that store and Amazon has sold a gazillion of their tablets. I also sideloaded the Google play store onto it but for some reason the 'JHAT' app doesn't load. On the subject of PLA I know it from 3D printing where it makes up the bulk of the 3D printing feedstock market. PLA is amazing stuff and I've designed many functional prints from hamburger presses to an insulin dose alignment tool for my wife. It's a robust if slightly brittle plastic but if a print breaks then I just redesign and print a new one. 3D printing is cheap but slow, however it's not as slow as ordering something and waiting for it to be delivered.

[@avejst]

Great Video as always Thanks for sharing :-)

[@arturoeugster2377]

Any plant needs 1.467 kg of the O-C-O molecule from the air to produce ONE kg of fructose. one thousand m³ of air have a content of 0.49 kg of O-C-O, only a tiny fraction pass through the stomata on the leaves. Have a think!

[@kirtg1]

Thank you very much for your videos

[@chrisfloyd919]

I would like to see an episode that points out to what extent 'end of life' petrochemical products are Incinerated rather than buried. I may be guilty of a degree of naivety as to end of life processes in Australia, but incinerating plastic seems inconceivable just as a smog hazard.

[@gg3675]

Love these videos

[@DutchAussieProductions]

Thanks for another great video. You have a new subscriber. You keep me busy watching your videos.

[@mousetails9]

Phenomenal summary. Love this subject matter, you've covered so much in a 15 minute video - glad to hear Epps getting a mention! In my opinion, biobased chemical manufacturing should only be incorporated into closing waste loops rather than creating mono-crop farms. I think biochemistry will play a big role in the next 20 years for more sustainable production methods.