Crude oil is "fractionally refined" in advanced industrial processes to create several different oil-based substances. Output products include gasoline (very light), kerosene (a bit heavier),...
Crude oil is "fractionally refined" in advanced industrial processes to create several different oil-based substances. Output products include gasoline (very light), kerosene (a bit heavier), lubricants (heavier still), and other chemical feedstock (heaviest), all out of the same barrel of crude.
The oil and gas industry has been running advertising campaigns for some time arguing that we can't reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation because it's a necessary byproduct of other crude oil outputs, which we might use to make plastic and such. In other words, they claim that if we stop burning gasoline and kerosene for energy, it will be impossible to produce other oil substances unless we want to dump those lighter fuels as waste. The presumption of this claim is that environmentalists wouldn't agree to dumping gasoline into waterways, so therefore society will collapse. However, this video states that that claim is unequivocally false.
The expert in the video states that it is technically possible (without any new inventions, even) to refine crude oil such that industrial products we need can still be produced, without wasting or burning fossil fuels. It is possible to blend various byproducts into more desirable substances using existing technology. Machines like cracking units, cokers, alkylation units, and reformers already manipulate crude oil during the distillation process; likewise, polymerization reactors can turn light petroleum products into polymers and other useful substances (this is where we get plastic). For a flowchart of petrochemical sources and products, see the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services diagram here.
The caveat is that producing these petrochemical products without burning light fuels would require some investment to revamp oil refineries. Oil companies would need to decide how to reuse lightweight fuel waste (which they currently burn off to provide heat for other industrial processes, thereby polluting the atmosphere) in an economical way, such as further chemical additions to transform the gases into something else useful in an industrial context (like carbon monoxide, apparently) or just using carbon capture technology to store the carbon in solid form. They talk about various other chemical processes that I don't understand.
In other words: the technology exists. The question is how much we want to pay to completely eliminate combustible fuels from oil refineries. From a regulatory standpoint, which appears to be what this ultimately is, countries also have to be more aggressive in restricting polluting processes like flaring, which are apparently not strictly necessary (despite what the industry might say).
I know we have some oil & gas people on Tildes and I would be interested to hear their opinions on the statements presented in the video.
Caveat: I don't work in oil and gas. Credentials: I work in Climate Tech and it's tangentially related There is a huge push for plant derived alternatives to a lot of the products you're talking...
Caveat: I don't work in oil and gas.
Credentials: I work in Climate Tech and it's tangentially related
There is a huge push for plant derived alternatives to a lot of the products you're talking about. Bio-mimicry has really taken off, particularly material science, and the change in policies is driving a huge amount of money into R&D. Our company conducts a lot of R&D and one of the other companies in our National Science Foundation funding cohort productizing their bio-mimicry based lubricant just sold to Johnson and Johnson for an outrages sum. This instance was a change in regulations of beauty products, but other industries will follow. There are absolutely alternatives we're ignoring specifically because the outputs from refining oil are currently so cheap. If we regulate differently I believe there will be a product ready to hit the shelves by the time the policy rollout is complete.
Also pinging @gowestyoungman, as they do work in the oil & gas industry and will likely have some industry specific knowledge on the subject.
There's a causation versus correlation thing here. My understanding is that we use a ton of oil derived products simply because deriving them from oil was the cheapest way to produce them. We can...
There's a causation versus correlation thing here. My understanding is that we use a ton of oil derived products simply because deriving them from oil was the cheapest way to produce them. We can produce the same or similar products from other raw feedstocks, some of which are much more eco-friendly. If, say, a carbon tax raised the effective price of oil, those other feedstocks would then be the cheapest. As for how much of our oil refinery infrastructure would be made obsolete, my heart bleeds for ExxonMobil.
Crude oil is "fractionally refined" in advanced industrial processes to create several different oil-based substances. Output products include gasoline (very light), kerosene (a bit heavier), lubricants (heavier still), and other chemical feedstock (heaviest), all out of the same barrel of crude.
The oil and gas industry has been running advertising campaigns for some time arguing that we can't reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for energy generation because it's a necessary byproduct of other crude oil outputs, which we might use to make plastic and such. In other words, they claim that if we stop burning gasoline and kerosene for energy, it will be impossible to produce other oil substances unless we want to dump those lighter fuels as waste. The presumption of this claim is that environmentalists wouldn't agree to dumping gasoline into waterways, so therefore society will collapse. However, this video states that that claim is unequivocally false.
The expert in the video states that it is technically possible (without any new inventions, even) to refine crude oil such that industrial products we need can still be produced, without wasting or burning fossil fuels. It is possible to blend various byproducts into more desirable substances using existing technology. Machines like cracking units, cokers, alkylation units, and reformers already manipulate crude oil during the distillation process; likewise, polymerization reactors can turn light petroleum products into polymers and other useful substances (this is where we get plastic). For a flowchart of petrochemical sources and products, see the Independent Commodity Intelligence Services diagram here.
The caveat is that producing these petrochemical products without burning light fuels would require some investment to revamp oil refineries. Oil companies would need to decide how to reuse lightweight fuel waste (which they currently burn off to provide heat for other industrial processes, thereby polluting the atmosphere) in an economical way, such as further chemical additions to transform the gases into something else useful in an industrial context (like carbon monoxide, apparently) or just using carbon capture technology to store the carbon in solid form. They talk about various other chemical processes that I don't understand.
In other words: the technology exists. The question is how much we want to pay to completely eliminate combustible fuels from oil refineries. From a regulatory standpoint, which appears to be what this ultimately is, countries also have to be more aggressive in restricting polluting processes like flaring, which are apparently not strictly necessary (despite what the industry might say).
I know we have some oil & gas people on Tildes and I would be interested to hear their opinions on the statements presented in the video.
Caveat: I don't work in oil and gas.
Credentials: I work in Climate Tech and it's tangentially related
There is a huge push for plant derived alternatives to a lot of the products you're talking about. Bio-mimicry has really taken off, particularly material science, and the change in policies is driving a huge amount of money into R&D. Our company conducts a lot of R&D and one of the other companies in our National Science Foundation funding cohort productizing their bio-mimicry based lubricant just sold to Johnson and Johnson for an outrages sum. This instance was a change in regulations of beauty products, but other industries will follow. There are absolutely alternatives we're ignoring specifically because the outputs from refining oil are currently so cheap. If we regulate differently I believe there will be a product ready to hit the shelves by the time the policy rollout is complete.
Also pinging @gowestyoungman, as they do work in the oil & gas industry and will likely have some industry specific knowledge on the subject.
Pinging @loire, I know they haven’t been active for the past month or two, but taking a shot in the dark.
There's a causation versus correlation thing here. My understanding is that we use a ton of oil derived products simply because deriving them from oil was the cheapest way to produce them. We can produce the same or similar products from other raw feedstocks, some of which are much more eco-friendly. If, say, a carbon tax raised the effective price of oil, those other feedstocks would then be the cheapest. As for how much of our oil refinery infrastructure would be made obsolete, my heart bleeds for ExxonMobil.