In an interstellar/interplanetary civilization, which would be most common/cheapest in the market: Plastic or metals?

Considering that oil is only really prevalent on earth (where dead biomatter can be compressed over millions of years into long hydrocarbons) I began to think that plastic might be just as rare as wood in an interstellar/interplanetary civilization. Metals are very common in space, whether it's from asteroid mining or planetary sources it seems like metals could become so prevalent they'd be nearly worthless (or at least super cheap to purchase and use in product manufacturing).

If that were the case, then most products you'd see people using would not include plastics, they'd be made primarily of metals. I'd imagine it a bit like Blade Runner or Cowboy Bebop, where wood and natural products are an extreme luxury.

But then I read that planets like Titan have large amounts of hydrocarbons on them (which could be processed into oil/plastic products). And now I'm not sure if there would be a difference at all.

I'm definitely assuming that power/travel are a non-issue in the scope of "Interstellar/interplanetary civilization". I'm most interested in the comparable amounts/distribution of metals vs plastics/oils.

posted almost 5 years ago

DehLeprechaun‭

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