Answers to frequently asked questions about petrochemicals and their relationship to our rapidly deteriorating natural environment:
What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are mainly petroleum, natural gas and coal, and petrochemicals are substances that are obtained from them.
What are some examples of products obtained from fossil fuels?
Gasoline and other fuels account for roughly half of all petrochemical production. Among the many others are agricultural chemicals, plastics, lubricants, construction materials, corrosion control chemicals, cosmetics, paints and coatings, cleaning agents, inks and dyes, electronic chemicals and materials, flavorings, fragrances, food additives, and pharmaceuticals.
What is the relationship between fossil fuels and the deterioration of the environment?
The large-scale use and disposal of fossil fuels and petrochemicals, which pollutes the air, water and land, is the leading cause of this deterioration.
What are some examples of this pollution?
Two of the biggest are the release of enormous quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the combustion of coal and gasoline and the build-up of vast quantities of plastic in the oceans and on the land.
Could our civilization survive without the large-scale use of fossil fuels?
Yes, but it will take time as well as some major changes to our lifestyles and economies. We should ask the equally important question: "Can our civilization survive with the continued large-scale use of fossil fuels?"
Can our civilization survive with the continued large-scale use of fossil fuels?
If it survives, it will be with an accelerating deterioration of the environment accompanied by a rapid deterioration in the quality of life for most people.
How can we drastically reduce our production and use of fossil fuels?
In short, it will be necessary to curtail products and activities that use a lot of petrochemicals and at the same time work on developing substitutes for them. But we must be careful that these substitutes do not create new environmental and other problems.
What are some specific examples?
The largest are electric power generation and road transportation. The latter includes not only the gasoline and diesel fuel used to operate the vehicles, but also the energy expended to manufacture the vehicles, the petrochemicals used to produce the plastics and other parts of the vehicles, and the asphalt and other materials used to make the roads and related infrastructure. After power generation and transportation, the largest are plastics and synthetic fibers.
Are there good substitutes for petrochemicals for these applications?
There are substitutes for many of them, although often they are more difficult to produce and more expensive. The good news is that the costs are continuing to decrease and the quality is continuing to improve as a result of technological advances and larger scales of output. One of the most outstanding examples is , for which the efficiency of sunlight to electricity conversion has been increasing dramatically and thus the costs of producing electricity with it have dropped sharply in recent years.
Likewise for some other forms of renewable energy, such as wind and wave energy. Although they still cannot fully replace energy from burning fossil fuels, they are able to replace it in a growing number of situations and are becoming an increasingly important supplement to fossil fuels.