Cheap hydroxymethylfurfural!

[swestrup]

Hydroxymethylfurfural or HMF for short, is one of the main chemical building blocks of plastic. Up until now the only economic source of HMF has been crude oil, but that's just changed. Scientists have finally figured out how to make HMF from Sugar. They've been working on the problem for ages, but they've finally come up with a method that looks promising.

Comments

[messiahdivine.livejournal.com]

Do you remember that scene from Sabrina where Humphrey Bogart was creating plastic out of sugar? :D

[hendrikboom.livejournal.com]

We've already got our cars competing with us for food, what with the gasohol fad.
Now it's plastics too.
We're all going to starve so the rich can drink coffee out of plastic cups in their cars.

[swestrup]

Uh. No. If this 'Sabrina' was a recent movie, I didn't see it. If it was the animated series from way back, I don't remember that episode.

[swestrup]

Sugar can be farmed. Oil, not so much. Besides, any food shortages today, anywhere in the world, are entirely a political creation.

[messiahdivine.livejournal.com]

Hahah no.. sorry. Heh - I'm an old movie buff and I forget not everyone is! Sabrina (1954) starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. He is the ceo of a big company - talks about the discovery of making plastic out of sugar. Actually has a big piece of it and has all his secretaries (5-6 of them) jump up and down on a suspended piece. It was quite amusing. :D

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what to think of this. On the one hand, not having to use petroleum to make plastic sounds good. But, on the other hand, it's plastic. After reading Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we? I have really become rather anti-plastic.