We present this report, from a United States Plastics Industry trade journal, confirming that, as we have documented numerous times, China is expanding their coal conversion industry to produce both liquid fuels and raw materials for their manufacturing enterprises.
The excerpt:
"China pursues coal as path to plastics
The primary plastic derived from these efforts has been polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with coal-derived capacity jumping from 2 million tons in 2002 to 7 million by 2007. By 2012, Pang says coal-based methanol and PVC throughput will double from current levels, with more than 90% of China’s PVC being derived from coal. The coal will also be used to produce propylene and ethylene, monomer feedstocks for polypropylene and polyethylene among other resins, with the state backing several large-scale projects. Over the next three to four years, the Middle East will add huge amounts of resin capacity, with much of the production intended for China, but in PVC, at least, Pang says China’s CTL path is economically competitive, with the end product roughly $100 cheaper than PVC derived from petroleum.
Pang’s CMAI associate, Steve Zinger, reported at the same conference that there are 12 coal-to-polyolefins projects being looked at in China, calling the effort a “game changer in olefins.” Zinger added, “There’s a lot of internal pressure to get self sufficient in other basic commodities, and certainly ethylene is no exception,” pointing out that as in steel, China’s government will wholeheartedly encourage domestic development of basic industries."
Can anyone tell us why the United States government does not, apparently, "wholeheartedly encourage domestic development of basic industries", such as coal-to-liquid conversion for both liquid fuels and plastics manufacturing raw materials?
Have we, the United States, become afflicted with something akin to "battered wife" syndrome in our relationship with "O" - Big Oil and OPEC, wherein we're battered, abused and coerced into supporting a greedy and brutal lout, but we're so emotionally addicted to the arrangement that we can't bring ourselves to pack our bags and head out, alone, into a big, scary world?