Re:The Awful Reign of the Red Delicious (2014)
by sweettea on Tuesday May 16, 2017 @05:47PM
(#14353597)
Pretty high. It is a primary source of long-chain hydrocarbons, a primary feedstock for chemistry. Most biologically active chemicals produced by industry rely on oil as the chief starting material.
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Re:The Awful Reign of the Red Delicious (2014)
by dredmorbius on Tuesday May 16, 2017 @06:11PM
(#14353782)
Though any carbon feedstock can address that. For a materials standpoint, there are substitutes.
Natural gas as feedstock to the Haber-Bosch process and coking coal in steel production, for reducing ore, are both much more formidable. They account for a large fraction the consumption of both (15% in the case of coal), and substitutes are difficult.
The story of where Earth's crustal iron comes from, when, and how, particularly as banded iron formations, is another interesting story.