Or am I missing something.
If not, I really think something that can be built without plastic or other mid game items would be very useful.

No, you are not missing anything. I designed this to come into play after electric engines are researched, or a bit later, about the time the player is in the middle of setting up productivity science. I did consider using just regular engines during the design and testing, but found that the electrical power generated was just not enough to support a robust pollution scrubbing. Based on my experience, there are way to many competing issues, in the early mid game, when the player is trying to set up oil, trains, plastic, and advanced circuits.

Hiladdar

My biggest issue in the early game is the increased difficulty with the biters and other bugs being much more aggressive than before. I am using the latest build of 0.18. I went back and started a new game with a much expanded starting area and I reduced the expansion rate of the bugs and the rate of pollution expansion. This helped a lot and allowed me to get to electric engines and some early long range weapons before it became too difficult. Playing the game at default settings is just too difficult for me. Thank you for your time.