Energy Use in Manufacturing Synthetic Materials
Making synthetic materials takes more than just raw materials. It requires a lot of energy.
Factories heat, mix, and reshape raw materials using electricity, fuel, and water. For example, making plastic requires heating petroleum to extremely high temperatures and transforming it through chemical processes into new molecules.
Aluminum is another material that requires a lot of energy. Mining and refining aluminum ore use huge amounts of electricity, but recycling aluminum cans can save up to 95% of the energy needed to produce new ones.
Where does this energy come from? Mostly from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, which produce pollution. However, some factories use renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to reduce environmental pollution.
Transporting materials also uses energy. For example, plastic bottles. The oil to make them might come from the Middle East, be refined in one country, shaped into bottles in another, and then shipped worldwide.
Scientists are finding new ways to make materials using less energy, like using bacteria to grow biodegradable plastics instead of relying on petroleum.
Making synthetic materials takes more than just raw materials. It requires a lot of energy.
Factories heat, mix, and reshape raw materials using electricity, fuel, and water. For example, making plastic requires heating petroleum to extremely high temperatures and transforming it through chemical processes into new molecules.
Aluminum is another material that requires a lot of energy. Mining and refining aluminum ore use huge amounts of electricity, but recycling aluminum cans can save up to 95% of the energy needed to produce new ones.
Where does this energy come from? Mostly from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, which produce pollution. However, some factories use renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to reduce environmental pollution.
Transporting materials also uses energy. For example, plastic bottles. The oil to make them might come from the Middle East, be refined in one country, shaped into bottles in another, and then shipped worldwide.
Scientists are finding new ways to make materials using less energy, like using bacteria to grow biodegradable plastics instead of relying on petroleum.
Making synthetic materials takes more than just raw materials. It requires a lot of energy.
Factories heat, mix, and reshape raw materials using electricity, fuel, and water. For example, making plastic requires heating petroleum to extremely high temperatures and transforming it through chemical processes into new molecules.
Aluminum is another material that requires a lot of energy. Mining and refining aluminum ore use huge amounts of electricity, but recycling aluminum cans can save up to 95% of the energy needed to produce new ones.
Where does this energy come from? Mostly from fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, which produce pollution. However, some factories use renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to reduce environmental pollution.
Transporting materials also uses energy. For example, plastic bottles. The oil to make them might come from the Middle East, be refined in one country, shaped into bottles in another, and then shipped worldwide.
Scientists are finding new ways to make materials using less energy, like using bacteria to grow biodegradable plastics instead of relying on petroleum.