[2023] The way duct tape is made has changed

Originally posted by Ogami: ...
They REALLY dont like the player having enough fuel.

Let's be real here though. If you mined one or two shale nodes, you never worried about gas again for the rest of the game. In a20 it was 10 gas for one shale. One block layer of a node could give you easily more than 10,000 shale.
In a21 it's five per, and still didn't have any shortages.
TFP wants you to have to struggle for some things. Not be showering yourself in liquid gold. This change is about balance, and TFP is finally starting to balance the game to have more survival aspects as was originally intended.

Now back on topic...
For duct tape, let's look at the recent history for clarification since the OP didn't bother to mention that this was in relation to A21.1

A20.6 1 glue 1 cloth.
A21.0 1 glue 1 cloth.
A21.1 1 glue 10 cloth.

Since a single cotton plant gives cloth, all this change does is make for a bit of a gathering sink.