You might recall in one of our past chronicles we said that neoprene (synthetic rubber) is made from oil or limestone and releases large amounts of carbon into our atmosphere. And that this contributes to the production of greenhouse gases, which ultimately contributes to climate change.
Q: Just how much synthetic rubber is on the market?
A: 30 million metric tons of natural and synthetic rubber are produced annually. 60% of this total is synthetic rubber - about 18 million metric tons! The majority of synthetic rubber is butadiene used to make tires and yes, neoprene.
Whether we are making wetsuits or tires, we should replace synthetic rubber with natural rubber. Afterall, natural rubber is carbon neutral and synthetic rubber made from oil releases tremendous amounts of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
Carbon footprint data exists on using oil to make rubber or plastics. The study below is, in our opinion, the most comprehensive to date and we will break it down for you.
Science Magazine Publication
In 2018, a group of 24 scientists from 16 different academic and commercial organizations, 4 different countries, and from 7 U.S. states (including Michigan and Texas) co-authored the most comprehensive assessment of climate emissions from crude oil production from 9,000 oil fields across 90 countries. They published their work in one of the world's top peer review journals, Science (or Science Magazine), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). You can read the 101 page supplement for yourself by scanning the QR.
One of the major conclusions was that on average, oil production emitted 10.3 grams of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) for every 1 megajoule of crude oil produced.
Note: A megajoule (MJ) is a unit to measure energy and It can be converted to kilograms (kg) of oil. 1 MJ of oil = 0.0238 kg of oil, so 10.3 g / 0.0238 kg = 432.77 kg of CO2e from the production of 1 kg oil.
Stated another way, 432.77 kg of CO2e is emitted into the atmosphere for every 1 kg of oil produced. This does not include all the intensive energy required to convert oil to naptha and then into synthetic rubber.
Published 31 August 2018, Science 361, 851 (2018) DOI: 10.1126/science.aar6859
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