The article “Harnessing Biology, and Avoiding Oil, for Chemical Goods” invites readers to balk not just at the price at the pump, but at the vastness of products subject to the every-growing cost of petroleum.
“More than a tenth of the world’s oil is spent not on powering engines but as a feedstock for making chemicals that enrich many goods - from cosmetics to cleaners and fabric to automobile parts,” writes Yudhijit Bhattacharjee.
Our own Richard Gross weighs in:
As petroleum prices go up and climate change becomes a serious concern, the economy will have no choice but to switch to a chemical base derived from plant materials, said Dr. Richard Gross, director of the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing of Macromolecules at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn.
Read “Harnessing Biology, and Avoiding Oil, for Chemical Goods” in full.