> Say BYE BYE to VINYL!
>
> Vinyl Farewell
>
> It looks as though audiophiles may have to resign themselves to
> the fact that in a few years time there will be only the chance
> to fondly re-live the good old days of nostalgia, rather than
> experience the new. Vinyl, the medium that took over from Shellac,
> Bakelite and even earlier the wax pressing, has had its final play
> – well, almost. The year 2009, looks set to be the final turn in
> the long standing vinyl revolution.
>
> A June 2003 press release from The Institute of Chemical Engineering,
> advised that key by- products of the current petroleum refining
> process would no longer be generated by 2009, due to deadlines agreed,
> in principle, with the chemical industry back in 1992. These deadlines
> were however, only finalised in 1999, in the face of increasing
> environmental concerns and lobbying.
>
> The IoCE went on to advise that a voluntary co-funded research and
> development program to seek a green alternative, possibly a
> polycarbonate based compound had been proposed in the 1999 summary.
> However no members of the industry wide syndicate had been able to
> substantiate a sufficiently high market demand for a replacement for
> the petroleum by-product, which is the primary base for vinyl record
> albums.
<snip>
Whata curious lot of bunkum. There isn't a 2009 deadline, or a 2003 press release, or even an "Institute of Chemical Engineering"--the American Institute of Chmeical Engineers has nothing about vinyl production on its website. And that's no surprise. Making polyvinyl chloride isn't that difficult--one uses steam cracking, orne of the basic techniques in refining to get ethylene, Adding chlorine gas with hydrochloric acid as a catalyst yields vinyl chloride, which is fairly nasty stuff, but much less nasty once it's polymerized. Producing ethylene is perhaps the least harmful thing that the petroleum industry does. And ethylene is the only "petroleum by-product" involved. But even if there were no petroleum left, you can get ethylene from rotting fruit--it's that easy to make.
But even if PVC production were to fall to Bakelite levels, the recording industry would care much less than the construction industry, which relies on PVC for drain pipes and other uses.
--tim francis-wright