The World in 2030

The World in 2030 263
source of raw material. The UK’s Royal Society of Chemists
points out:
Today the interest in plastics based on renewable
raw materials has increased considerably. The aim
here is to move away from petroleum-based plastics
towards renewable raw materials, whilst at the
same time trying to synthesize new products with
special, desirable properties. For example, sugars
are used as the alcohol components in the production
of polyurethanes, and scientists are trying
to better exploit raw materials, such as cellulose,
which are available in large amounts. Products
which are biologically degradable, i.e. which can
easily be disposed of after use, are also gaining
considerable interest. 483
And under the headline ‘Plastic That Grows On Trees’
the website phys.org reported in June 2007:
It has been an elusive goal for the legion of chemists
trying to pull it off: replace crude oil as the root
source for plastic, fuels and scores of other industrial
and household chemicals with inexpensive, nonpolluting
renewable plant matter.
Scientists took a giant step closer to the biorefinery
today, reporting in the journal Science that they have
directly converted sugars ubiquitous in nature to an
alternative source for those products that make oil
so valuable, with very little of the residual impurities
that have made the quest so daunting. 484