Maya Ellison
In the city-building game Cities: Skylines, players can produce plastic by first sourcing oil. This can be done by creating an oil industry area with processing buildings, or by importing oil. Once the player has access to oil, they can then build an oil facility, oil storage buildings, and a plastic plant to begin producing plastic. The plastic can then be transported and sold to generate revenue for the city.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What is needed to produce plastic | Oil |
| How to get oil | Import oil, or create an oil industry area with processing buildings and level it up until you can drill your own oil |
| How to import oil | Build a warehouse and set it to 'fill' to speed things up |
| How to drill your own oil | Use an offshore oil rig, which requires an industry area of level 3 or above |
| How to level up an industry area | Zone an industry area and place an oil facility, oil storage buildings, and a plastic plant |
| How to transport oil | Use trucks, trains, ships, or planes |
| How to generate revenue from oil transportation | Ensure the materials are shipped from the city, as materials transported from building to building do not earn money |
| How to use oil to make plastic | Build a plastic factory and ensure there is a sufficient amount of oil available for production |
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What You'll Learn
Importing oil to produce plastic
In the city-building game Cities: Skylines, players can create their own oil industry area, making plastics and petroleum. While plastics and petroleum cannot be imported, oil can. To set up an oil industry, players can place an oil facility, oil storage buildings, and a plastic plant. To import oil, players can set up oil container facilities, which will automatically import oil so long as they are not set to 'empty'. A nearby cargo train station can help keep importing trucks out of the rest of the city's infrastructure.
In the real world, crude oil is a source of raw material, or feedstock, for making plastics. However, it is not the major source of feedstock for plastics production in the United States. The majority of the feedstocks used in the US for plastics production are derived from natural gas processing, with the rest coming from crude oil/petroleum refineries. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the demand for plastics will make up nearly 50% of oil demand by the 2050s. This is much higher than the current demand, and the global supply of crude oil may only meet our demands through mid-century.
The process of turning crude oil into plastic is complex. Crude oil is extracted from underground reserves using drills and pumps. The countries with the largest crude oil reserves as of 2023 include Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Once extracted, the oil is transported through pipelines to refineries, where it is heated to 600-750 degrees Fahrenheit and distilled.
Fossil fuels are a finite resource, so one day we won't be able to make plastics from them. The use of bioplastics, or plastics made from biological sources, is on the rise. However, bioplastics also face challenges such as high production costs, fragility, and vulnerability to heat and water.
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Creating an oil industry area
To create an oil industry area in Cities: Skylines, you must first ensure that you have reached the Busy Town milestone, as oil is the last industry to be unlocked in the game. Oil industry buildings are also notably more expensive than their farming, forestry, and ore counterparts, so you'll need to have enough money to spare.
Next, you'll need to identify the location of your oil deposit. If your chosen map doesn't have natural oil resources, or if you don't want oil rigs in your city, you can simply import oil. If you do have access to natural oil resources, you'll need to place your oil pumps and storage for the pumps. Then, you can get the processing buildings that correlate to the oil industry, such as petroleum and plastic plants. Make sure that your industry buildings are in their correct zone, as most buildings in the oil industry require that zone. You can use the Paint Industry Area tool to expand the oil district over the map where the oil is located.
If you are importing oil, your petroleum and plastics manufacturing buildings will automatically import oil if it can't be sourced within your city. However, this will be less profitable than producing everything locally, so it would be beneficial to have your oil industry area close to a highway or cargo train station to enable import trucks to reach it faster.
Once your oil industry area is set up, you can use your processed materials, petroleum, and plastic, in unique factories to create luxury goods. These can then be exported or sold in local commercial zones.
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Using a cargo train station
To produce plastic in Cities: Skylines, you need oil. If you don't have access to oil drills, you can import oil by setting up a cargo train station at the industry zone. This will provide a stable supply of oil, which can then be processed into plastic.
The cargo train station is a crucial part of the supply chain in Cities: Skylines. It allows for the transportation of cargo to and from the city by utilizing train tracks. By building a cargo train station and connecting it to the outside world, you can import the necessary resources for plastic production.
When setting up your cargo train station, consider its placement carefully. It is recommended to have a one-way loop route around the station to facilitate efficient traffic flow. This helps prevent vehicles from crossing each other's paths and speeds up the process. Additionally, ensure that your train station is connected to the relevant processing plants and storage facilities to maximize the effectiveness of your supply chain.
Another advantage of using a cargo train station is that it can help alleviate pressure on roads around the station. By utilizing trains, you can reduce the number of trucks on the roads, making the transportation of goods more efficient and reducing potential traffic congestion. This is especially beneficial if your city has a mix of imports and exports, as it ensures that cargo is transported directly to the intended destination without causing unnecessary traffic in other areas.
Overall, incorporating a cargo train station into your Cities: Skylines gameplay is a strategic move. It not only provides a stable supply of oil for plastic production but also enhances the efficiency of your city's supply chain and helps manage traffic flow. With careful planning and optimization, your cargo train station can play a pivotal role in the success of your city.
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Storing raw materials
To produce plastic in Cities: Skylines, you'll need to first source the raw material, oil, which can be imported. Raw materials are stored in buildings specific to each type of industry unlocked as a zone levels up.
To store raw materials, you will need to create an industry area with processing buildings. You can then set up oil container facilities and storage buildings. These will automatically import oil so long as they are not set to 'empty'. You can also import raw oil by building a warehouse, which will speed up the process by reducing supply chain interruptions. Set the warehouse to ''fill' for the fastest gains.
A nearby cargo train station with a one-way loop route can also help to keep importing trucks out of the rest of your infrastructure. If you have issues with trucks not being able to find a route, check your road networks for any disconnections or lane arrows that might be preventing trucks from turning into a street.
Once you have sourced and stored your raw oil, you can begin the process of turning it into plastic. You will need to build a plastic plant and ensure that the oil is being requested by the plastic factory. If you are having issues with this, you may need to increase the size of your oil industry.
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Producing plastic from petroleum
In the city-building game Cities: Skylines, players can create an oil industry area to produce plastics and petroleum. While plastics cannot be imported, oil can be, and players can create a zone with only processing buildings to level up and eventually drill their own oil.
In the real world, the process of producing plastic from petroleum is a complex one. First, raw materials such as crude oil and natural gas are extracted. These materials are then refined and transformed into different petroleum products through a process called fractional distillation. This involves heating the oil to 600-750 degrees Fahrenheit and breaking it down into smaller pieces called fractions, which contain hydrocarbons such as gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel. One of the key fractions is naphtha, a chemical composed of various hydrocarbons, including ethane and propene, which are essential for synthetic plastics production.
The next critical step is steam cracking, where naphtha is broken down into ethane and propene through the application of high temperatures and pressures. This process yields the basic building blocks for plastics, known as monomers or "simple molecules" such as ethylene and propylene. These molecules are then chemically bonded together through a process called polymerization, forming long molecular chains called polymers.
Polymers are the foundation for creating various plastic products, with the most common types being PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene). The flexibility of the petrochemical industry allows for the use of different feedstocks, such as hydrocarbon gas liquids, to produce plastics.
While synthetic plastics derived from petroleum are dominant, there is growing interest in bioplastics made from renewable resources like waste biomass, animal waste, and bacteria. These bioplastics have been explored for applications beyond single-use plastics, including medical uses such as controlled drug release and absorbable surgical sutures.
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Frequently asked questions
To produce plastic, you need to first import oil. Then, set up an oil industry area with processing buildings, oil storage buildings, and a plastic plant.
You can import oil by setting up oil container facilities. These will automatically import oil so long as they are not set to 'empty'. You can also use a cargo train station to keep importing trucks out of your infrastructure.
Generally, two oil storage facilities will be able to import and supply enough oil for four manufacturing plants.
To level up your industry area, you can zone an area with only processing buildings and level it up until you can drill your own oil.
Yes, you can use a generic industry set to oil specialization, which produces raw oil with no additional cost from importing.
