The oil and gas industry is the recipient of plenty of ire, but critics ought to realize that without it, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign would have no chance.
For one, vaccines must be moved from manufacturing sites to administration sites, and figures from the Energy Information Administration show that 95% of the U.S. transportation system is fueled by oil and gas.
Beyond that, Pfizer’s vaccine must be kept extremely cold at minus 70 degrees Celsius, while Moderna’s vaccine must be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius. Some of the more common hydrocarbons such as propane, isobutene, and propylene are used as refrigerants. Without oil and gas, the refrigeration necessary for the storage of the vaccines would not be possible either.
Then, there are the plastics and glass products needed to develop the vaccine and treat patients that are all products of the oil and gas industry. These unrecognized achievements typically get overlooked, but the Institute for Energy Research, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., that favors free market policies, has just released a policy paper detailing how energy is rising to the challenge of COVID-19.
The medical supplies, equipment, and logistics that are now mobilized and organized to treat patients and distribute the vaccines all stem from hydrocarbons. The process behind the production of plastics and glass is especially worth exploring.
“Plastics, also called polymers, are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, and natural gas, salt and crude oil,” the IER explains in its paper. “The production of plastics begins with the distillation of crude oil in an oil refinery, separating the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of size and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, is the crucial compound for the production of plastics.”
It means that medical supplies including face masks, diagnostic equipment, disposable gowns, shoe booties and hoods, housing for test kits, goggles, surgical gloves, surgical instruments, and more are widely available thanks to oil and gas.
Plastic products have been among the great enablers of modern healthcare. They can be molded and shaped for use in a wide variety of products that include tubing, syringes, IV bags, catheters, labware, and surgical instruments.
Next, there’s glass, which is made from liquid sand. Most of the energy used in glass manufacturing comes from natural gas combustion, according to the Energy Information Administration. Glass is used in microscopic slides, laboratory flasks, and laboratory beakers.
“Even before we got to the vaccine, the making of ventilators and plastic tubes, and other medical devices used to combat the coronavirus were subsidiaries of oil and gas production,” Dan Kish, IER’s senior vice president, said in an interview. “Without the energy industry, the transportation, supply, and refrigeration of the vaccines would not be possible. In fact, the vaccines themselves would not be possible.”
Kish continued, “Take any human endeavor, even something as seemingly mundane as getting food to the grocery store, and you will find that it is oil and gas somewhere along the line that makes it all possible. Those who want to ban plastic, including plastic grocery bags themselves, in essence, want the virus to spread, not the vaccine.”
Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden’s stated commitment to achieve “net-zero emissions” by 2050, which would put an end to the use of hydrocarbons, could have serious ramifications in the future. The vaccine mobilization currently underway would not be possible without oil and gas products. The very industry that is often so vilified in the media and misrepresented in both academia and politics has put America on a strong footing to end the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, the public education system we have robs people of the ability to understand the world around them,” Kish said. “Hydrocarbons are organic naturally occurring substances and are an asset to humanity, but somehow, they have been identified as the enemy thanks to the most effective misinformation campaign ever organized.”
While much of the press coverage touching on the intersection between energy and vaccines touch on how vaccines could rally consumer demand for energy and boost the economy, it is the role that energy plays in making the vaccination feat possible that deserves more attention.
Kevin Mooney (@KevinMooneyDC) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., who writes for several national publications.
