materialsscienceandengineering: The history of petrochemicals and their impact on global geopolitics

materialsscienceandengineering:

The history of petrochemicals and their impact on global geopolitics

All aspects of people’s lives are now bound to a “seemingly unlimited supply of cheap and readily disposable” petrochemicals, a new essay argues.

Global demand for petrochemicals continues to outstrip increases in production capacity, despite substantial expansion in production in China and the Gulf.

The piece, written by Professor Adam Hanieh from the University of Exeter, describes how the synthetic production of petroleum drove post-war revolutions in productivity, labor-saving technologies and mass consumption.

From the 1950s onwards, an array of naturally derived substances—wood, glass, paper, natural rubber, natural fertilizers, soaps, cotton, wool and metals—were systematically displaced by plastics, synthetic fibers, detergents and other petroleum-based chemicals.

The growth of plastics at this time was possible thanks to the growth of the chemical industry in Germany and the U.S. in the early 20th century. By the end of the Second World War, the US was the dominant global chemical power.

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