![\"\"](\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2026\/04\/78bae01adda06cb054853c836bb8bee9.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAccording to the scientific community on the 19th, there is a lack of commercial technologies capable of immediately replacing petroleum-based naphtha production. While various technologies such as recycling waste plastics and developing bioplastics are underway, analysts say they have not yet reached a commercial scale sufficient to replace naphtha in terms of cost-effectiveness and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Focus on Diversifying Raw Materials and Energy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nNaphtha refers to molecules with 5-10 carbon (C) atoms produced during the distillation of petroleum. When decomposed with heat, it yields ethylene and propylene, which are basic industrial raw materials. These are then polymerized to create polyethylene and polypropylene, essential materials for daily necessities and healthcare products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When raw materials like naphtha become scarce, the easiest approach is recycling: collecting and breaking down plastic waste to a raw material level to produce other products. The problem is that the recovery rate of raw materials is low due to the difficulty of completely separating the various additives used to enhance plastic strength and other functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The current naphtha recovery rate from waste plastic recycling technology is less than 50%,” said Koh Kang-seok, a principal researcher at the Bio-resources and Circular Economy Research Lab of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER). “Furthermore, the supply of recyclable waste plastic feedstock is not stable because collected plastics are often contaminated with various pollutants.” The fact that this method does not fundamentally change the reliance on petroleum-based production is also cited as a key limitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Efforts to utilize plant-based biomass, such as used cooking oil, are also ongoing. This involves using the naphtha that is a byproduct of producing bio-jet fuel. However, considering that South Korea produces about 500,000 tons of used cooking oil annually, the constraints on raw material supply are too great to replace existing petrochemical production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘E-fuels’, which involve synthesizing chemical raw materials by reacting hydrogen produced from water electrolysis using renewable energy (like solar and wind) with carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from factory smokestacks, are gaining attention as a sustainable alternative. Electricity or waste heat from nuclear reactors can also be used. The challenge for commercializing e-fuels is cost. The process involves many steps, from securing renewable energy to synthesizing raw materials, and the process needs further optimization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Green Carbon Research Center at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) is developing technology to produce olefins, a raw material for various carbon compounds, using gases from the steelmaking process, and is preparing for commercialization. Although it can theoretically replace about one-third of the total olefin production, it requires a facility about 200 times larger than the current scale, making the timeline for industrial application unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Ignoring Non-Competitive Tech Now Will Lead to Repeated Crises”<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn the biotechnology sector, there are steady moves to reduce dependence on petrochemicals, but securing price competitiveness is also key. The main approach is to produce final chemical products, such as plastics and solvents typically made from naphtha, directly from bio-based raw materials without using naphtha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s not that we can’t make plastics with biotechnology; we just can’t compete on price,” said Lee Sang-yup, a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST. “Crude oil is so cheap that we call it a ‘foul material.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Professor Lee, bioplastics are about 2 to 5 times more expensive than conventional petrochemical processes, depending on the type. However, products like biodegradable garbage bags could be introduced immediately if the government encouraged them, and high-strength nylon-based plastics can be produced using only bio-based materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When oil prices rise, voices calling for biotechnological solutions grow louder, but once crude oil imports normalize, everyone goes back to petroleum,” Professor Lee pointed out. “If we let the bioplastics industry die because it lacks price competitiveness, the same problem will repeat during the next crisis.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, “We need to maintain a certain scale of production infrastructure consistently. This requires not just investment but also policies like incentives and public procurement to ensure it can become a viable business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“During the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, there were also disruptions to the naphtha supply, but the only response was to switch import sources to the Middle East,” said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). “We must proactively build the capacity to manufacture and stockpile essential medical substances and bio-products ourselves.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A U.S. invasion of Iran has led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting South Korea’s domestic crude oil supply. With the supply chain for ‘naphtha,’ an essential chemical raw material primarily obtained from distilling Middle Eastern petroleum, on high alert, interest in alternative technologies is growing. According to the scientific community on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":176482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"While various technologies are underway, analysts say they have not yet reached a commercial scale sufficient to replace naphtha in terms of cost-effectiveness and productivity","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[15175,5847,5796,26868,15905,15806,19462,14462,20015,10743],"supplier":[22375,27547,27922],"class_list":["post-176457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biojetfuel","tag-bioplastics","tag-biotechnology","tag-carbpmcautire","tag-efuels","tag-ethylene","tag-naphta","tag-plasticwaste","tag-propylene","tag-useco2","supplier-korea-advanced-institute-of-science-and-technology-kaist","supplier-korea-institute-of-energy-research-kist","supplier-korea-research-institute-of-chemical-technology-krict"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176496,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457\/revisions\/176496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176457"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=176457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
In the biotechnology sector, there are steady moves to reduce dependence on petrochemicals, but securing price competitiveness is also key. The main approach is to produce final chemical products, such as plastics and solvents typically made from naphtha, directly from bio-based raw materials without using naphtha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s not that we can’t make plastics with biotechnology; we just can’t compete on price,” said Lee Sang-yup, a distinguished professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST. “Crude oil is so cheap that we call it a ‘foul material.'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Professor Lee, bioplastics are about 2 to 5 times more expensive than conventional petrochemical processes, depending on the type. However, products like biodegradable garbage bags could be introduced immediately if the government encouraged them, and high-strength nylon-based plastics can be produced using only bio-based materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“When oil prices rise, voices calling for biotechnological solutions grow louder, but once crude oil imports normalize, everyone goes back to petroleum,” Professor Lee pointed out. “If we let the bioplastics industry die because it lacks price competitiveness, the same problem will repeat during the next crisis.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added, “We need to maintain a certain scale of production infrastructure consistently. This requires not just investment but also policies like incentives and public procurement to ensure it can become a viable business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“During the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, there were also disruptions to the naphtha supply, but the only response was to switch import sources to the Middle East,” said Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). “We must proactively build the capacity to manufacture and stockpile essential medical substances and bio-products ourselves.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A U.S. invasion of Iran has led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting South Korea’s domestic crude oil supply. With the supply chain for ‘naphtha,’ an essential chemical raw material primarily obtained from distilling Middle Eastern petroleum, on high alert, interest in alternative technologies is growing. According to the scientific community on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":176482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"While various technologies are underway, analysts say they have not yet reached a commercial scale sufficient to replace naphtha in terms of cost-effectiveness and productivity","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[15175,5847,5796,26868,15905,15806,19462,14462,20015,10743],"supplier":[22375,27547,27922],"class_list":["post-176457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biojetfuel","tag-bioplastics","tag-biotechnology","tag-carbpmcautire","tag-efuels","tag-ethylene","tag-naphta","tag-plasticwaste","tag-propylene","tag-useco2","supplier-korea-advanced-institute-of-science-and-technology-kaist","supplier-korea-institute-of-energy-research-kist","supplier-korea-research-institute-of-chemical-technology-krict"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176496,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176457\/revisions\/176496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176457"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=176457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}