What would a world without fossil fuels look like?

Fossil fuels are the raw materials for an enormous amount of our everyday consumer goods.

Turning fossil fuels into essential commodity chemicals…

Fossil fuels such as crude oil and natural gas can be distilled into various commodity chemicals through a process called refining.

Refining typically involves the following steps:

1. Distillation: The fossil fuel is heated and vaporized, and the resulting vapors are condensed into different fractions based on their boiling points. For example, the lighter fractions with lower boiling points, such as gasoline, are condensed first, followed by heavier fractions like diesel and lubricating oil.

2. Conversion: Some of the heavier fractions are converted into lighter hydrocarbons through chemical reactions, such as cracking and reforming. These reactions break down the large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones, creating products such as ethylene, propylene, and benzene, which are used as building blocks for a variety of chemicals.

3. Treatment: The various fractions and products are further treated and purified to remove impurities, such as sulfur and nitrogen compounds, and to adjust their properties, such as viscosity and volatility.

4. Blending: Finally, the various fractions and products are blended in specific proportions to create the desired final products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and petrochemicals.

The refining process is complex and requires specialized equipment and expertise. The resulting commodity chemicals are used in a wide range of applications.

Source: https://www.fi.endress.com/_storage/asset/33231/storage/master/file/2833463/A_Refining_INP_en.jpg

Commodity chemicals that come from fossil fuels…

Some of the main types of chemicals made from fossil fuels include: