Ethylene is a hydrocarbon with the formula C2H4 (or H2C = CH2). It is a colorless, flammable gas, with a faint “sweet and musky” odor when pure. Ethylene is the simplest alkene (hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds), and second-simplest unsaturated hydrocarbon after acetylene (C2H2). The majority of its commercial production occurs via thermal cracking of feedstocks (ethane or naphtha) around the globe. Structurally, ethylene is one of the simplest starting molecules and is used in the production of plastics, chemicals, solvents, and intermediates. Its consumption rate is primarily driven by consumer demand.
