this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2025
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But China has upped its game. In Pingdingshan, a once-struggling coal city in the central province of Henan, coal is no longer just mined and burned – it’s being chemically transformed into nylon, one of the most important and widely used synthetic polymers in the world.

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[–] EveningCicada@hexbear.net 11 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Would be interesting to know what emissions this causes compared to using it for energy.

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 7 points 5 hours ago

All the carbon in the coal is going into fiber instead of the atmosphere so that's a win, but it's a big entropy reversal so it will take a fair bit of energy, so it's a question of where the energy comes from.

The article implies that the main energy source for this is natural gas.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 1 points 7 hours ago

Or what I'm breathing and absorbing through my skin.