Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic?

Prevoditelj: Ariana Crvenka Recezent: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

So, I'd like to spend a few minutes with you folks today

Ljudi, volio bih danas s vama provesti nekoliko minuta

imagining what our planet might look like in a thousand years.

zamišljajući kako bi naš planet mogao izgledati za tisuću godina.

But before I do that,

Ali prije nego što to učinim

I need to talk to you about synthetic materials like plastics,

trebam s vama razgovarati o sintetičkim materijalima poput plastike,

which require huge amounts of energy to create

koji za proizvodnju zahtijevaju ogromnu količinu energije

and, because of their disposal issues,

i koji, zbog problema oko njihova odlaganja,

are slowly poisoning our planet.

polagano truju naš planet.

I also want to tell you and share with you

Također vam želim reći i podijeliti s vama

how my team and I

kako smo moj tim i ja

have been using mushrooms over the last three years.

koristili gljive tijekom posljednje tri godine.

Not like that. (Laughter)

Ne na taj način. (Smijeh)

We're using mushrooms to create an entirely new class of materials,

Koristimo gljive kako bismo stvorili potpuno novu vrstu materijala,

which perform a lot like plastics during their use,

koji se tijekom upotrebe ponašaju vrlo slično plastici,

but are made from crop waste

ali se rade od žetvenog otpada

and are totally compostable at the end of their lives.

i potpuno su razgradivi na kraju svog životnog vijeka.

(Cheering)

(Odobravanje)

But first,

Ali najprije

I need to talk to you about what I consider one of the most egregious offenders

trebam s vama razgovarati o, po mom mišljenju, jednom od najistaknutijih prijestupnika

in the disposable plastics category.

u kategoriji plastike za jednokratnu upotrebu.

This is a material you all know is Styrofoam,

To je materijal kojeg svi znate kao stiropor,

but I like to think of it as toxic white stuff.

ali ja ga volim smatrati otrovnom bijelom tvari.

In a single cubic foot of this material --

U jednoj jedinoj kubičnoj stopi tog materijala --

about what would come around your computer or large television --

otprilike koliko bi išlo oko vašeg računala ili velikog televizora --

you have the same energy content

imate jednaku količinu energije

of about a liter and a half of petrol.

kao i u oko litri i pol benzina.

Yet, after just a few weeks of use,

A ipak, nakon samo nekoliko tjedana upotrebe,

you'll throw this material in the trash.

bacit ćete taj materijal u smeće.

And this isn't just found in packaging.

A on se ne nalazi samo u ambalaži.

20 billion dollars of this material is produced every year,

Svake se godine proizvede 20 milijardi dolara tog materijala

in everything from building materials to surfboards

u svemu, od građevinskih materijala, daski za surfanje,

to coffee cups to table tops.

šalica za kavu do površina stolova.

And that's not the only place it's found.

A to nije jedino mjesto gdje se nalazi.

The EPA estimates, in the United States,

Agencija za zaštitu okoliša (EPA) u Sjedinjenim Državama procjenjuje da

by volume, this material occupies 25 percent of our landfills.

volumenski taj materijal zauzima 25% naših odlagališta.

Even worse is when it finds its way into our natural environment --

Još je gore kada završi u našem prirodnom okolišu --

on the side of the road or next to a river.

uz rub ceste ili pored rijeke.

If it's not picked up by a human, like me and you,

Ako ga ne pokupi čovjek, poput mene i vas,

it'll stay there for thousands and thousands of years.

ostat će tamo tisućama i tisućama godina.

Perhaps even worse

Možda je još gore

is when it finds its way into our oceans, like in the great plastic gyre,

kada završi u našim oceanima, kao u velikom plastičnom vrtlogu,

where these materials are being mechanically broken

gdje se ti materijali mehanički razbijaju

into smaller and smaller bits,

na sve manje i manje djeliće,

but they're not really going away.

ali zapravo ne nestaju.

They're not biologically compatible.

Nisu biološki kompatibilni.

They're basically fouling up

Oni u osnovi onečišćuju

Earth's respiratory and circulatory systems.

dišni i krvožilni sustav Zemlje.

And because these materials are so prolific,

A, budući da su ti materijali toliko rašireni,

because they're found in so many places,

budući da se nalaze na toliko mjesta,

there's one other place you'll find this material, styrene,

postoji još jedno mjesto gdje ćete pronaći taj materijal, stiren,

which is made from benzene, a known carcinogen.

koji se proizvodi od benzena, poznatog karcenogena.

You'll find it inside of you.

Naći ćete ga u sebi.

So, for all these reasons,

Zbog svih tih razloga

I think we need better materials,

mislim kako trebamo bolje materijale,

and there are three key principles we can use to guide these materials.

a postoje tri ključna načela koja možemo koristiti u rukovanju tim materijalima.

The first is feedstocks.

Prvo načelo su sirovine.

Today, we use a single feedstock, petroleum,

Danas koristimo jednu jedinu sirovinu, naftu,

to heat our homes, power our cars

za grijanje naših domova, pokretanje naših automobila

and make most of the materials you see around you.

i izradu većine materijala koje vidite oko sebe.

We recognize this is a finite resource,

Mi prepoznajemo da je to ograničeni izvor

and it's simply crazy to do this, to put a liter and a half of petrol in the trash

i da je jednostavno ludo to činiti, baciti litru i pol benzina u smeće

every time you get a package.

svaki put kad nabavite nešto zapakirano.

Second of all, we should really strive to use far less energy

Kao drugo, stvarno bismo trebali nastojati koristiti daleko manje energije

in creating these materials.

u proizvodnji tih materijala.

I say far less, because 10 percent isn't going to cut it.

Kažem daleko manje, jer 10% smanjenja nije dovoljno.

We should be talking about half, a quarter,

Trebali bismo pričati o polovici, četvrtini,

one-tenth the energy content.

desetini količine energije.

And lastly, and I think perhaps most importantly,

I zadnje, a mislim možda i najvažnije načelo,

we should be creating materials

je da bismo trebali proizvoditi materijale

that fit into what I call nature's recycling system.

koji se uklapaju u ono što ja zovem reciklirajući sustav prirode.

This recycling system has been in place for the last billion years.

Taj reciklirajući sustav je ovdje posljednjih milijardu godina.

I fit into it, you fit into it,

Ja se uklapam u njega, vi se uklapate u njega,

and a hundred years tops, my body can return to the Earth with no preprocessing.

i nakon najviše sto godina moje se tijelo može vratiti Zemlji bez prethodne obrade.

Yet that packaging I got in the mail yesterday

A opet, ta ambalaža koju sam jučer dobio poštom

is going to last for thousands of years.

trajat će tisućama godina.

This is crazy.

To je ludo.

But nature provides us with a really good model here.

No, priroda nam ovdje pruža stvarno dobar primjer.

When a tree's done using its leaves --

Kada drvo završi s korištenjem svojeg lišća --

its solar collectors, these amazing molecular photon capturing devices --

svojih solarnih kolektora, tih nevjerojatnih uređaja za hvatanje molekularnih fotona --

at the end of a season,

na kraju sezone,

it doesn't pack them up, take them to the leaf reprocessing center

ono ga ne zapakira, ne odnese u centar za preradu lišća

and have them melted down to form new leaves.

i ne topi da bi stvorilo novo lišće.

It just drops them, the shortest distance possible,

Samo ga ispusti, na najmanju moguću udaljenost,

to the forest floor,

na šumski pod,

where they're actually upcycled into next year's topsoil.

gdje se ono zapravo reciklira u gornji sloj tla sljedeće godine.

And this gets us back to the mushrooms.

A to nas vraća gljivama.

Because in nature,

Jer, u prirodi

mushrooms are the recycling system.

gljive su reciklirajući sustav.

And what we've discovered

A ono što smo mi otkrili

is, by using a part of the mushroom you've probably never seen --

je da korištenjem dijela gljive koji vjerojatno nikada niste vidjeli --

analogous to its root structure; it's called mycelium --

analogno njenoj građi korijena; zove se micelij --

we can actually grow materials

možemo zapravo uzgajati materijale

with many of the same properties of conventional synthetics.

s mnogim značajkama istim kao i kod konvencionalne sintetike.

Now, mycelium is an amazing material,

Micelij je nevjerojatan materijal,

because it's a self-assembling material.

zato što je to materijal koji se samo-sastavlja.

It actually takes things we would consider waste --

On zapravo uzme stvari koje bismo smatrali otpadom --

things like seed husks or woody biomass --

stvari poput ljuski sjemenja ili drvene biomase --

and can transform them into a chitinous polymer,

i može ih pretvoriti u biopolimer hitin,

which you can form into almost any shape.

kojeg možete formirati u skoro svaki oblik.

In our process,

U našem procesu

we basically use it as a glue.

u osnovi ga koristimo kao ljepilo.

And by using mycelium as a glue,

A koristeći micelij kao ljepilo

you can mold things just like you do in the plastic industry,

možete modelirati stvari kao što to radite u industriji plastike

and you can create materials with many different properties,

i možete stvarati materijale s mnogim različitim svojstvima,

materials that are insulating, fire-resistant,

materijale koji su izolacijski, vatrootporni,

moisture-resistant, vapor-resistant --

vodootporni, paronepropusni --

materials that can absorb impacts, that can absorb acoustical impacts.

materijale koji mogu apsorbirati udarce, akustičke udarce.

But these materials are grown from agricultural byproducts,

No, ovi materijali nastaju iz poljoprivrednih nusprodukata,

not petroleum.

a ne iz nafte.

And because they're made of natural materials,

Budući da su od prirodnih materijala,

they are 100 percent compostable

100% su razgradivi

in you own backyard.

u vašem vlastitom dvorištu.

So I'd like to share with you the four basic steps

Volio bih s vama podijeliti četiri osnovna koraka

required to make these materials.

potrebna da bi se ti materijali proizveli.

The first is selecting a feedstock,

Prvi korak je izbor sirovine,

preferably something that's regional, that's in your area, right --

po mogućnosti nešto što je regionalno, iz vašeg područja, naravno --

local manufacturing.

lokalne proizvodnje.

The next is actually taking this feedstock and putting in a tool,

Sljedeći korak je da stvarno uzmete tu sirovinu i stavite ju u spravu,

physically filling an enclosure, a mold,

fizički ispunjavajući kućište, kalup,

in whatever shape you want to get.

u koji god oblik želite dobiti.

Then you actually grow the mycelium through these particles,

Zatim zapravo uzgajate micelij pomoću tih čestica

and that's where the magic happens,

i tu se događa čarolija,

because the organism is doing the work in this process,

jer posao u ovom procesu odrađuje organizam,

not the equipment.

a ne oprema.

The final step is, of course, the product,

Zadnji korak je, naravno, proizvod,

whether it's a packaging material, a table top, or building block.

bilo da je to ambalažni materijal, površina stola ili građevinski blok.

Our vision is local manufacturing,

Naša vizija je lokalna proizvodnja

like the local food movement, for production.

poput pokreta za lokalnu proizvodnju hrane.

So we've created formulations for all around the world

Tako smo stvorili sustave za svuda po svijetu

using regional byproducts.

koristeći regionalne nusprodukte.

If you're in China, you might use a rice husk

Ako ste u Kini, mogli biste koristiti ljuskice riže

or a cottonseed hull.

ili ljuske sjemenja pamuka.

If you're in Northern Europe or North America,

Ako ste u Sjevernoj Europi ili Sjevernoj Americi,

you can use things like buckwheat husks or oat hulls.

možete koristiti stvari poput heljdinih ili zobenih ljuskica.

We then process these husks with some basic equipment.

Zatim te ljuske obrađujemo pomoću iste osnovne opreme.

And I want to share with you a quick video from our facility

Želim s vama podijeliti kratak video iz našeg postrojenja

that gives you a sense of how this looks at scale.

koji će vam dati osjećaj kako to izgleda u pravoj veličini.

So what you're seeing here is actually cotton hulls from Texas, in this case.

Ovo što ovdje vidite u ovom slučaju su zapravo ljuskice pamuka iz Teksasa.

It's a waste product.

To je otpadni materijal.

And what they're doing in our equipment

A ono što on radi u našoj opremi

is going through a continuous system,

je da prolazi kroz kontinuirani sustav,

which cleans, cooks, cools

koji čisti, kuha, hladi

and pasteurizes these materials,

i pasterizira te materijale,

while also continuously inoculating them with our mycelium.

te ih istovremeno kalemi pomoću našeg micelija.

This gives us a continuous stream of material

To nam daje kontinuirani protok materijala

that we can put into almost any shape,

koji možemo staviti u skoro svaki oblik,

though today we're making corner blocks.

iako danas proizvodimo kutnike.

And it's when this lid goes on the part,

A u trenutku kada se spusti ovaj poklopac

that the magic really starts.

počinje prava čarolija.

Because the manufacturing process is our organism.

Jer, proizvodni proces je naš organizam.

It'll actually begin to digest these wastes

On zapravo počinje probavljati taj otpad

and, over the next five days,

i, tijekom sljedećih pet dana,

assemble them into biocomposites.

sastavlja ih u bio-smjese.

Our entire facility

Cijelo naše postrojenje

is comprised of thousands and thousands and thousands of these tools

se sastoji od tisuća i tisuća i tisuća tih alata,

sitting indoors in the dark, quietly self-assembling materials --

smještenih unutra u mraku, tihih samo-sastavljajućih materijala --

and everything from building materials

i sve od građevinskih materijala

to, in this case,

do, u ovom slučaju,

a packaging corner block.

ambalažnih kutnika.

So I've said a number of times that we grow materials.

Zato sam rekao nekoliko puta da mi uzgajamo materijale.

And it's kind of hard to picture how that happens.

Nekako je teško zamisliti kako se to događa.

So my team has taken five days-worth of growth,

Zato je moj tim uzeo petodnevnu vrijednost uzgoja,

a typical growth cycle for us,

tipičnog uzgojnog ciklusa za nas,

and condensed it into a 15-second time lapse.

i sažeo ju u vremenski interval od 15 sekundi.

And I want you to really watch closely

Htio bih da stvarno pažljivo gledate

these little white dots on the screen,

te sitne bijele točkice na ekranu,

because, over the five-day period,

jer, nakon petodnevnog razdoblja,

what they do is extend out and through this material,

one se šire na sve strane kroz taj materijal

using the energy that's contained in these seed husks

koristeći energiju koja je sadržana u tim ljuskicama

to build this chitinous polymer matrix.

kako bi izgradila tu matricu biopolimera hitina.

This matrix self-assembles,

Ta se matrica samo-sastavlja,

growing through and around the particles,

šireći se oko svih čestica,

making millions and millions of tiny fibers.

stvarajući milijune sičušnih vlakana.

And what parts of the seed husk we don't digest,

A dijelovi ljuskica koji se ne probave,

actually become part of the final, physical composite.

zapravo postaju dio konačne fizičke smjese.

So in front of your eyes, this part just self-assembled.

Tako se ovaj komad, nama pred očima, jednostavno samo-sastavio.

It actually takes a little longer. It takes five days.

Zapravo to traje malo dulje. Traje pet dana.

But it's much faster than conventional farming.

Ali je puno brže od konvencionalnog uzgoja.

The last step, of course, is application.

Posljednji korak je, naravno, primjena.

In this case, we've grown a corner block.

U ovom slučaju, uzgojili smo kutnik.

A major Fortune 500 furniture maker

Veliki proizvođač namještaja Fortune 500

uses these corner blocks to protect their tables in shipment.

koristi te kutnike za zaštitu svojih stolova tijekom prijevoza.

They used to use a plastic packaging buffer,

Prije su koristili plastičnu ambalažnu zaštitu,

but we were able to give them the exact same physical performance

ali smo im mi bili u stanju ponuditi identičan fizički učinak

with our grown material.

s našim uzgojenim materijalom.

Best of all, when it gets to the customer,

Najbolje od svega, kada taj materijal stigne do kupca,

it's not trash.

on nije smeće.

They can actually put this in their natural ecosystem without any processing,

Kupac ga zapravo može staviti u svoj prirodni eko-sustav bez ikakve obrade,

and it's going to improve the local soil.

a on će poboljšati lokalno tlo.

So, why mycelium?

Dakle, zašto micelij?

The first reason is local open feedstocks.

Prvi razlog je neposredna lokalna sirovina.

You want to be able to do this anywhere in the world

Želite biti u mogučnosti to činiti bilo gdje u svijetu

and not worry about peak rice hull or peak cottonseed hulls,

i ne brinuti oko vrhunca ljuskica riže ili sjemenja pamuka,

because you have multiple choices.

jer imate brojne izbore.

The next is self-assembly,

Sljedeći razlog je samo-sastavljanje,

because the organism is actually doing most of the work in this process.

jer organizam zapravo odrađuje veći dio posla u ovom procesu.

You don't need a lot of equipment to set up a production facility.

Ne trebate puno opreme da biste postavili postrojenje za proizvodnju.

So you can have lots of small facilities

Možete imati puno malih postrojenja

spread all across the world.

raširenih širom svijeta.

Biological yield is really important.

Biološki prinos je zaista važan.

And because 100 percent of what we put in the tool become the final product,

A budući da 100% onoga što stavimo u alat postaje konačni proizvod,

even the parts that aren't digested

čak i dijelovi koji nisu probavljeni

become part of the structure,

postaju dio građe,

we're getting incredible yield rates.

dobivamo nevjerojatne stope prinosa.

Natural polymers, well ... I think that's what's most important,

Prirodni polimeri...mislim da je to ono što je najvažnije,

because these polymers have been tried and tested

jer su ti polimeri isprobani i testirani

in our ecosystem for the last billion years,

u našem eko-sustavu tijekom zadnjih milijardu godina

in everything from mushrooms to crustaceans.

u svemu, od gljiva do školjki.

They're not going to clog up Earth's ecosystems. They work great.

Oni neće začepiti Zemljine eko-sustave. Izvanredno funkcioniraju.

And while, today,

I dok danas

we can practically guarantee that yesterday's packaging

možemo praktički jamčiti da će jučerašnja ambalaža

is going to be here in 10,000 years,

biti ovdje za 10.000 godina,

what I want to guarantee

ono što ja želim jamčiti

is that in 10,000 years,

je to da će za 10.000 godina

our descendants, our children's children,

naši potomci, djeca naše djece,

will be living happily and in harmony

živjeti sretno i u skladu

with a healthy Earth.

sa zdravom Zemljom.

And I think that can be some really good news.

A mislim da bi to mogle biti stvarno dobre vijesti.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(pljesak)