> an astounding 90% of chemical feedstocks are derived from oil or gas
What I often wonder is, as the demand for oil declines, the economies of scale in oil production should, too. If that is the case, will not the price of everything with oil byproduct inputs go up? In other words, will the transition to other energy sources actually be highly inflationary?
Maybe. It might also require not using as much disposable stuff in favor of reusable things. The culture we’ve built around disposable plastics and such is less than 100 years old. Our great grandparents lived considerably differently.