By Chanel Traboldt
Bernie Tao talks to many farmers. He explains to them that they are oil barons. Over the next several decades Tao believes that plant oil will become an essential to everyday life.
“In the 1970s we got our first taste of what it was like when fuel begins to go away,” Tao claims.” Three decades later we are beginning to see the start of another large petroleum crunch. And part of that is consumer demand, which has greatly increased.”
Tao says that the gas prices will not be going down. “One time use resources, which are also known as non-renewable resources, such as petroleum, are a problem because you eventually run out. Eventually we will have to switch from using non-renewable resources to using renewable resources,” he states. Common field crops, like soybeans and corn, could possibly one day replace petroleum oil.
Ethanol is a type of alcohol made by fermenting plant material. It has some drawbacks, however Tao says, “the economics of ethanol production are improving as the technology improves.”
By manipulating plant oils, Tao believes it could be possible to create a petroleum substitute. Fossil fuels were once plants. “Chemists have known for decades how to alter the hydrocarbon chains into petroleum through processes known as cracking and reforming,” explains Tao. A hydrocarbon is methane. According to Tao, “before ww11 most paints were made from vegetable oils or other plant products.
This idea is not new. Henry ford famously made everything from clothing to car bumpers from vegetable oils. He did this just to show it could in fact be done. And in January 2000, Dow chemical co. and Cargull inc. began producing plastics from corn. However, most products still are made from petroleum, instead of plants.
An annual contest is held each year sponsored by the Indiana soybean board. At this contest, students at Purdue create a variety of products to replace petroleum products with soybean oil, such as candles, ski wax, fire starters, and crayons.
Although there isn’t a huge demand right now for scientists to develop soybean candles or crayons, Tao says, that we will need to start preparing for when the time calls for a decrease use of petroleum. “We will be saving petroleum to make things that we cannot make any other way [such as cases for computer monitors].