There's a new way to make everyday products without using fossil fuels

At home, I am surrounded by fossils. They are in my clothes, carpets and soft furnishings, the packaging wrapped around the food I buy and the myriad cleaning products I use every day. Even the contact lenses in my eyes are full of fossils.

I’m not talking about ancient life forms preserved in rock (though I do have quite a lot of those too), but fossilised carbon atoms, laid down millions of years ago and brought back to the surface by the petroleum industry.

Compounds extracted from oil are the backbone of modern life. The vast majority of household products…