ABSTRACT

The most important types of fossil oils are extracted directly from

subterranean reservoirs, as crude oil and natural gas. Fossil oils can

also be extracted from coal or from oliferous slate or clay.

The refining process is the starting point for many products used in

the building industry (Table 9.1). Heavy distillates including tar and

asphalt are used directly, mostly for making roofs and joints watertight.

Other, more refined, products provide raw materials for a whole spec-

trum of commodities: glues, waxes and solvents for paints. Fossil oils

are also the raw material for most plastics. The plastics industry has

developed explosively over the past half century. By 1971 an average

apartment contained about 1 ton of plastic. A modern Scandinavian

apartment contains 2 to 3 tons of plastics (Plastic Industries of Den-

mark), in everything from the sheathing on electric cables to floor

finishes and window frames (Table 9.2). The building industry uses

25% of all plastics produced.