Petrochemical resources

Surfactants can be produced from both petrochemical resources and/or renewable, mostly oleochemical, feedstocks. Crude oil and natural gas make up the first class while palm oil (+kernel oil), tallow and coconut oil are the most relevant representatives of the group of renewable resources. Though the worldwide supplies of crude oil and natural gas are limited—estimated in 1996 at 131 X 1091 and 77 X 109 m3, respectively [28]—it is not expected that this will cause concern in the coming decades or even until the next century. In this respect it should be stressed that surfactant products only represent 1.5% of all petrochemical uses. Regarding the petrochemically derived raw materials, the main starting products comprise ethylene, n-paraffins and benzene obtained from crude oil by industrial processes such as distillation, cracking and adsorption/desorption. The primary products are subsequently converted to a series of intermediates like a-olefins, oxo-alcohols, primary alcohols, ethylene oxide and alkyl benzenes, which are then further modified to yield the desired surfactants. 

Current biodiesel can not be considered as a 100% biomass-based fuel as long as methanol is derived from petrochemical resources. A clean way to solve the biorelated problem is the conversion of glycerol waste from the transesterification process into syngas. In this context, glycerol reforming is a suitable target reaction worthy of study. 

Stimulate development of new products that are not wholly dependent on imported, non-renewable petrochemical resources for their manufacture. It should be noted that not all these incentives require that blends be biodegradable. 

The reasons to use raw materials from renewable resources can be various. When a natural flavour ingredient has to be prepared, a natural raw material is essential, and natural raw materials are renewable, because they come from plants, animals or fermentation. For nature-identical flavour ingredients, a renewable raw material can be a good choice from a chemical point of view and quite often also from a cost point of view if turpentine is readily available in a country with limited or no petrochemical resources, -pinene from the renewable source is cheaper than chemically synthesised -pinene. A manufacturer chooses only for sustainable production if it is remunerative and at least as attractive as other options. 

In all examples of the palladium-catalyzed telomerization discussed up till now, the nucleophile (telogen) can be considered renewable. The taxogens used (butadiene, isoprene), however, are still obtained from petrochemical resources, although butadiene could, in principle, also be obtained from renewable resources via the Lebedev process that converts (bio)-ethanol into 1,3-butadiene. Limited attention has been given in this respect to the great family of terpenes, as they provide direct access to renewable dienes for telomerization. In particular, those terpenes industrially available, which are derived mostly from turpentine, form an attractive group of substrates. Behr et al. recently used the renewable 1,3-diene myrcene in the telomerization with diethylamine, for instance [18]. The monoterpene myrcene is easily obtained from (3-pinene, sourced from the crude resin of pines, by pyrolysis, and is currently already used in many different applications. 

The shortage of oil and natural gas has been reflected in shortages and spiraling prices for polymers based on petrochemical resources. Providentially, such polymers may be in part replaced by lignocellulosic materials that are the most abundant and most economical organic renewable resources available. In their natural state as wood and plant fibers, and as the principal constituent used in the manufacture of paper, textile fibers, and many other industrial products, lignocellulosic materials will continue to be fundamental to human welfare. 

During the search for efficient and ecologically justified waste-management concepts, the use of biodegradable polymer materials was repeatedly made a political demand. Next to the arguments of a partial solution to the waste-disposal problem by natural degradation, the conservation of the petrochemical resources, the reduction of C02-emission, and the use of renewable resources are a point of discussion. 

Petrochemical resources (crude oil, natural gases and so on), used intensively in the worldwide chemical industry, are in fact limited resources and in a certain period of time will be depleted. The chemical industry is making big efforts to find alternatives to the petrochemical raw materials. 

Fabrication of polyols for PU from renewable resources is a very promising and economic way for the future. By contrast with the petrochemical resources, the availability of such kind of renewable natural raw materials is practically unlimited [1, 5]. 

Saccharides as organic raw materials can open new perspectives on the way to new biocompatible and biodegradable products which could help overcome the problems resulting from the upcoming restrictions of petrochemical resources. Large amounts of carbohydrates are commercially available and a large part of the surplus of their agricultural production could be used for hybrid structures with synthetic materials. 

There is now almost unanimous international agreement on the need for urgent action to address the twin threats of petrochemical resource depletion and the onset of extreme climate change. With few exceptions, leading economies are evolving plans for the use of hydrogen and other petrochemical alternatives, particularly in the automotive sector. 

The current worldwide, annual production of majorfibres is 78 million tons, a fivefold increase from 10 years ago. Synthetic fibres make up for 45 million tons, of which a majority of 80% is polyester. There are issues involved in these fibres, however, such as the staggering volume being disposed of depletion of the petrochemical resources necessary to make the fibres, and the CO2 emissions related to both the production and disposal of the fibres. 

Direct substitution of a bulk petrochemicaL This strategy impUes that a bulk chemical, which is presently produced from petrochemical resources, would be substituted by an identical substance, produced from biomass with the help of biotechnology. The substitute could either be the building block itself or a derivative of the building block. Advantages of this strategy will be that the markets for these products already exist and the market drivers are well known, which substantially reduces the uncertainty. 

Thus, the use of renewable materials declined significantly over time, mainly due to the extremely low prices for petrochemical resources. Currently, approximately 96% of aU organic chemical substances are based on fossil resources. Nevertheless, a substantial number of industries are still based on renewable raw materials (RRMs). StiU half of the fibers used in the textile industry are natural materials (cotton, wool, flax) and the oleochemical industry satisfies sodely s daily hygienic needs for soaps with detergents that are based on vegetable oils. The building industry continues to use natural fibers for construction insulation purposes. 

On the basis of origin, compostable polymers are derived from renewable and petrochemical resources. 

Table 3.24. Summary of properties of compostable polymer materials derived from petrochemical resources [116]...

Cellulose and starch are frequently referred to as renewable resources, in that they are not derived from petrochemical resources. These two materials are discussed in other parts of this text see Appendix 2.1, and Sections 6.10, 6.11,14.3, and 14.4. 

These copolymers have not found extensive applications in the packaging industries to replace conventional plastic materials, although there could be an interesting way to overcome the limitation of the petrochemical resources in the future. Technically, the prospects for PHA are very promising. It is noteworthy that developments are still being made. 

All these families arise from petrochemical resources and this raises the question of the security of supply of fossil reserves to ensure the sustainability of plastic packaging. World reserves of oil are estimated at roughly 1 — 1.5 X 10 tonnes, more or less 40 years of consumption at the present rate. However, these values do not allow an easy correlation to the rate of petrochemical resource extraction and depletion. Many schools of thought have... 

They represent a highly promising solution, since they have the potential to overcome environmental concerns such as the decreasing availabilihy of landfill space and the depletion of petrochemical resources, and also offer a sustainable alternative option to mechanical and chemical recycling. 

The polyalcohols normally used in the alkyd synthesis include (di)pentaerythritol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, trimethylolpropane and neopentylglycol. Whereas the fatty acid or oil component is derived from renewable resources, the majority of the aforementioned polyacids and polyalcohols are alkyd building blocks derived from petrochemical resources. 

CompoBag 9 1, made from PCL and polyester amide (these raw materials are both made from petrochemical resources). 

Recent years have witnessed a particular attention on protein-based thermosetting materials owing to the depletion of petrochemical resources. Vegetable proteins... 

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