WI: Thermal depolymerization existed in the early 20th century?

Thermal_depolymerization is a process that turns hydrocarbon basied waste like plastics, biomass, and sewage into artifical crude oil. What if the knowlege and technology to preform this process exsited much early, say by 1900. What effects would this have on history?
 
ArKhan said:
Thermal_depolymerization is a process that turns hydrocarbon basied waste like plastics, biomass, and sewage into artifical crude oil. What if the knowlege and technology to preform this process exsited much early, say by 1900. What effects would this have on history?
Thx for a great link.:cool:

A few of things cross my mind, depending on how rapidly it gets commercialized. One, no fight over the oil in the Mid East in WW2, because Germany can produce much more of her own fuel.

Two, no Oil Shock, since OPEC doesn't have anything like the clout it had OTL.:cool:

Three, this butterflies the problems & complaints around industrial chicken & hog farms, since the big ponds of liquid waste disappear.:cool:

Four, it appears to mean pet food or glue makers could be in trouble: if it's more profitable to turn dead horses or cattle, unfit for human consumption, into oil...:eek:

Five, it has potential butterflies for tire use. If it's more profitable to sell old tires for oil, what happens to recaps/retreads?:eek: (It does mean all the enormous stacks of old tires become fuel stocks, & all the tire stack fires disappear...:cool:) It also suggests tires are cheaper, since oil is a major cost in synthetic tire rubber...
 
It is cheaper than pumping it out of the ground? If not it's going to fit in the "interesting but un-needed" category except in special circumstances like Germany's in WW2 and the more modern era post-1973.
 
It is cheaper than pumping it out of the ground? If not it's going to fit in the "interesting but un-needed" category except in special circumstances like Germany's in WW2 and the more modern era post-1973.
I don't know about cheaper then pumping, but certainly cheaper when it comes to waste disposal, as it turns stuff nobody wants into a highly sought after resource that can be sold at a profit.
 
I don't know about cheaper then pumping, but certainly cheaper when it comes to waste disposal, as it turns stuff nobody wants into a highly sought after resource that can be sold at a profit.

Dumping stuff in a landfill is pretty cheap, especially in the days before the EPA, and (according to the wiki article) many of the feedstocks are already used for fertilizer etc. Also from the wiki article:

Reports in 2004 claimed that the Carthage facility was selling products at 10% below the price of equivalent oil, but its production costs were low enough that it produced a profit. At the time it was paying for turkey waste (see also below).
The plant then consumed 270 tons of turkey offal (the full output of the turkey processing plant) and 20 tons of egg production waste daily. In February 2005,[11] the Carthage plant was producing about 400 barrels per day (64 m3/d) of crude oil.
In April 2005 the plant was reported to be running at a loss. Further 2005 reports summarized some economic setbacks which the Carthage plant encountered since its planning stages. It was thought that concern over mad cow disease would prevent the use of turkey waste and other animal products as cattle feed, and thus this waste would be free. As it turned out, turkey waste may still be used as feed in the United States, so that the facility must purchase that feed stock at a cost of $30 to $40 per ton, adding $15 to $20 per barrel to the cost of the oil. Final cost, as of January 2005, was $80/barrel ($1.90/gal).
The above cost of production also excludes the operating cost of the thermal oxidizer and scrubber added in May 2005 in response to odor complaints (see below).
A biofuel tax credit of roughly $1 per US gallon (26 ¢/L) on production costs was not available because the oil produced did not meet the definition of "biodiesel" according to the relevant American tax legislation. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 specifically added thermal depolymerization to a $1 renewable diesel credit, which became effective at the end of 2005, allowing a profit of $4/barrel of output oil.

So, that's not exactly competitive before the first oil shock. Still, it's just a demonstration plant; maybe they can get the price down with further development.
 
Top