Microplastics are increasingly being found in our bodies and food supply. 

They are defined as pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters — about the size of a pencil eraser. But they can also be much smaller, like the size of a virus particle or a strand of DNA.

Petrochemicals, the building blocks of plastic, are produced from oil and gas. The business is a small but profitable area of the fossil fuel industry, and any push back on the use of plastics is seen as a threat to the oil and gas industry.

“Where the industry is most vulnerable is on the human exposure to microplastics,” said Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity. “They’re going to have to try to tell us that exposure to microplastics every day, from birth to death is just fine. It’s just great. You should just eat more of it. It’s no problem. And I just don’t think they can win that argument.”

Scientific research on microplastics has spiked over the past few years. The National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database reported that the level of published scientific research related to the search term “microplastics” has nearly doubled from 2021 to 2024.

One study, published in Nature Medicine in February, found that human brains from 2024 had an average of about 7 grams of plastic, which is about 50% more plastic than brains examined from 2016. Scientists involved in the study told CNBC that those samples came from the frontal cortex, which ongoing research suggests may contain the highest levels of microplastic.

“If people think there are watchdogs measuring and understanding these types of nanoplastics as they are coming in, our food, our water, our air, I have not seen any evidence of that happening on any meaningful scale,” said Andrew West, a researcher at Duke University and one of the co-authors of the study.

Microplastics also have been found by scientists in the muscle tissue of fish and even in the fibers of fruits and vegetables.

“Thanks to advances in monitoring technology, we can now detect incredibly tiny amounts of substances like microplastics,” said Kimberly Wise White, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Chemistry Council, a trade association for the plastics industry. “But finding something at extremely low levels does not mean it’s harmful. Plastics deliver proven benefits in health care, food safety, transportation and technology — benefits we can’t afford to lose.”

Industry giants are investing heavily into chemical production as oil demand is declining from electrification, U.S. tariffs and slowing economic growth in China and India. The International Energy Agency said electric vehicle adoption, for example, has displaced more than 1 million barrels of oil consumption per day in 2024 and that is expected to increase to 5 million barrels by 2030.

In its 2024 outlook, BP said the declining use of oil in transportation was being offset by oil use for petrochemical production. While chemical uses include a variety of products like detergent and paints, polyethylene plastics are a major part of the chemicals business.

“Major oil and gas companies are playing a key role in the supply chain for plastics. And then there are a whole set of many other companies [on] the downstream side that are involved in creating the plastics,” said Yale University energy and environmental economics professor Kenneth Gillingham. “The surplus of natural gas is coming about because of fracking, and it’s led to low prices of natural gas.”

In the U.S., about 1.5% of natural gas is converted into chemicals that are used to make plastics and other consumer products, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world, has also increased its activity in the space. In 2020, it bought a 70% stake in petrochemicals company SABIC. While fourth-quarter 2024 results were lower than expected, SABIC made nearly $35 billion from petrochemicals last year. 

“We’re unquestionably, as a society, better off having plastics than no plastics, but we’re facing the consequences of having those plastics,” Gillingham said.

Watch the video to learn more about how microplastics have become a major issue for big oil.

Nissan just got one step closer to unlocking the “holy grail” of EV batteries for drivers. With help from LiCAP Technologies, Nissan is gearing up for its first vehicles powered by all-solid-state EV batteries.

Nissan taps LiCAP Tech for all-solid-state EV batteries

Often called the holy grail of EV batteries, solid-state batteries promise to cut costs, enable longer driving range and faster charging times, while also improving safety compared to current lithium-ion batteries.

Although many claims have been made in the lab, producing battery tech is not easy. At least, not on a mass scale.

Nissan believes it may have an advantage after securing a partnership with US-based LiCAP Technologies. The new alliance will focus on developing a dry electrode production process to build all-solid-state EV batteries at a mass scale.

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By using LiCAP’s proprietary Activated Dry Electrode technology, Nissan claims to have “significant advantages” in production efficiency and performance.

Compared to traditional solvent-process electrodes, using a dry-process method eliminates the need for drying and solvent recovery. Nissan said it will significantly reduce manufacturing costs and the environmental impact.

The new partnership marks a significant step as Nissan prepares to launch next-generation models powered by all-solid-state EV batteries.

Nissan opened its first all-solid-state battery line at its Yokohama plant in Japan earlier this year. The company aims to launch its first EVs equipped with in-house all-solid-state batteries by fiscal year 2028. In the meantime, Nissan said it plans to double down on the new battery tech by accelerating R&D efforts.

In June, Nissan’s director of product planning in Europe, Christop Ambland, confirmed with Auto Express that the first vehicles “will be ready for SSB (solid-state batteries) in 2028.”

Electrek’s Take

Nissan is not the only one chasing the promising new battery tech. Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Stellantis, and Honda are among the many carmakers and other companies racing to bring all-solid-state EV batteries to market.

Even BYD and CATL, which are dominating the global battery market, plan to launch vehicles powered by solid-state batteries around 2027.

Mercedes-Benz is already testing “the first car powered by a lithium-metal solid-state battery on the road” through a partnership with Factorial Energy, while others are quickly advancing.

Meanwhile, SAIC MG is preparing to launch the first EV with a semi-solid-state battery, the new MG4, which will be sold globally. The company will reveal prices in September, with deliveries set to begin before the end of 2025.

Which company will deliver the first production EV powered by all-solid-state EV batteries? Let us know your thoughts below.

Elon Musk says Tesla might never bring its new ‘Model YL’, a new six-seat variant of the Model Y launched in China this week, to the US, and the reason for this is ridiculous.

He thinks Tesla won’t need it because of, you guessed it: autonomy.

Musk has been framing autonomy as Tesla’s salvation. He is on record as saying that you shouldn’t invest in Tesla unless you believe it will lead in autonomous driving, despite being wrong about Tesla solving autonomy virtually by the end of every year for the last six years.

The CEO’s belief that Tesla has been consistently on the verge of solving autonomy for the last 6 years has led to many bad decisions.

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It has affected Tesla’s designs and features, like removing the gear and turn signal stalks, because he thought drivers wouldn’t need them by now. Now, Tesla is bringing back the turn signal stalk as an aftermarket upgrade.

Musk also canceled new Tesla models, such as the highly anticipated “$25,000 Tesla”, because he believed it wouldn’t be needed due to the advent of autonomy, despite an internal report that confirmed this was a bad idea.

Now, the CEO is adding another bad decision to the list.

Earlier this week, Tesla launched a new Model YL, a longer version of its best-selling electric SUV with six seats, in China.

As we pointed out in our article, this is a popular segment in China, and there’s already a lot of competition. Still, Tesla could easily bring this version to other markets, such as North America, where there’s less EV competition, and it could prove popular, as bigger vehicles are the norm in the US.

But CEO Elon Musk has now thrown cold water on the expansion of the Model YL in North America.

In response to Omar Qazi, a Tesla influencer known for defending Tesla and Musk’s every move, claiming that the reason Musk had yet to comment or share Tesla’s launch of Model YL is because it’s only available in China for now, Musk responded that Model YL is not planned for production in the US until the end of 2026 and it might never come:

“This variant of the Model Y doesn’t start production in the US until the end of next year. Might not ever, given the advent of self-driving in America.”

The CEO suggests that the new variant’s production in the US will lag behind China by more than a year, or may never materialize, because he believes the advent of autonomous driving in the US will render it obsolete.

Electrek’s Take

This is reason number 69,420 why Elon Musk shouldn’t be CEO of Tesla anymore.

As I already stated, I believe Model YL would be a bigger success for Tesla in North America than in China.

In China, Tesla was already expensive. Over 90% of Model 3 and Model Y buyers go for the base RWD versions of those vehicles due to the pricing.

Tesla’s decision to offer a more expensive AWD model won’t significantly increase its volumes in China.

Furthermore, EV competition is already intense in China, where Chinese EV companies don’t suffer from tariffs like they do in other markets. There are already several 6-seater electric SUV options that are cheaper than the new Model YL.

However, in North America, the Model YL could potentially undercut the few existing 6-seater and third-row electric SUV options and prove popular.

Yet, Musk delays the launch by more than a year and claims it may never happen due to autonomy.

It’s so stupid because even with autonomy, which I don’t believe will be as widespread as Musk claims next year, the Model YL would make sense as it would be a better Robotaxi with six seats.

For the sake of Tesla, Musk has to go. It’s unfortunate that shareholders don’t realize this or are too concerned about the short-term impact on the stock.