An interesting article from "Japan Times" about an underreported UN-sponsored conference in South Korea. Yes, it´s about plastics and microplastics. Some quotes from the article (which is linked below):
>>>The rising toll of plastic in the environment is impossible to ignore. In the developing world, plastic waste is clogging beaches and rivers and choking wildlife. A glut of trash in the Congo this month even shut down a hydroelectric dam, forcing power cuts. Plastics are also responsible for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.N.
>>>As plastic items break down, they become microplastics. These have now been found in human breast milk, brain tissue and blood. Research has linked a chemical used in some plastics, bisphenol F, to lower IQs in children.
>>>Microplastics are ubiquitous across ecosystems, detected everywhere from the depths of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench to the snow on Mount Everest. One recent study found that aerosolized plastic particles could even affect cloud formation and induce heavier rainfall.
>>>As renewable energy and electrification sap demand for oil, growth in petrochemicals is expected to help offset that, making the sector an important backstop for oil-producing countries and the fossil fuel industry. Petrochemicals’ share of total oil demand could nearly double by 2050, according to research firm BloombergNEF.
>>>"The oil and gas industry is looking at this as a Plan B, or an escape hatch, for surviving the energy transition,” said Dharmesh Shah, a senior campaigner for the Center for International Environmental Law, a nonprofit with headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Geneva.
>>>China is the world’s biggest producer of plastic and has a close trading relationship with Saudi Arabia, the source of much of its imported oil. State oil company Saudi Aramco is investing in plants in China that can process its crude into petrochemicals.
Plan B, indeed!
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