Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic?

翻译人员: Boyang Zhu 校对人员: Xu Jiang

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

我希望花几分钟时间和你们聊聊

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

想象下一千年以后我们的星球看起来会是怎样的？

But before I do that,

但在这之前，

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

我需要告诉你像塑料这样的花费巨大的

which require huge amounts of energy to create

人力物力来制造的合成材料，

and, because of their disposal issues,

因为它们存在的废弃处理问题，

are slowly poisoning our planet.

正在逐渐毒害我们的地球。

I also want to tell you and share with you

我也想与大家分享

how my team and I

我和我的团队

have been using mushrooms over the last three years.

如何在过去的三年中使用蘑菇。

Not like that. (Laughter)

不是那样子（笑声）

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

我们正使用蘑菇来创造一种全新的材料。

which perform a lot like plastics during their use,

使用起来和塑料一样，

but are made from crop waste

但是是以农作物废料来制造的

and are totally compostable at the end of their lives.

并且在他们的使用寿命结束后完全降解于大自然中。

(Cheering)

（欢呼）

But first,

但首先，

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

我需要和大家聊下我认为在

in the disposable plastics category.

可降解塑料中最差的品种。

This is a material you all know is Styrofoam,

你们都知道有一种叫做泡沫塑料的材料，

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

我认为这种一种白色污染。

In a single cubic foot of this material --

当你购买电脑或者大尺寸的电视机

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

大约会带有一立方英尺的泡沫塑料－

you have the same energy content

它们对能源的消耗相当于

of about a liter and a half of petrol.

一升半的石油。

Yet, after just a few weeks of use,

经过几周后的使用，

you'll throw this material in the trash.

你把这玩艺扔进了垃圾筒，

And this isn't just found in packaging.

它们不仅仅被用作包装材料。

20 billion dollars of this material is produced every year,

每年大约200亿美元的泡沫塑料被生产出来，

in everything from building materials to surfboards

用来制造各种产品包括建材，冲浪板

to coffee cups to table tops.

到咖啡杯和桌面。

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

它们也不仅仅只出现在这些产品中。

The EPA estimates, in the United States,

根据环保署的估算，在美国，

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

按体积来算，这种材料占据了4分之一的垃圾填埋场。

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

更糟糕的是当它进入我们的自然环境－

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

出现在路边或者河边。

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

如果不被人回收，比如我们，

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

它就会再那待上成千上万年。

Perhaps even worse

更坏的情况是

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

当它们进入到海洋中，就好像太平洋上的庞大的塑料漩涡，

where these materials are being mechanically broken

这些材料被机械化地

into smaller and smaller bits,

粉碎成无数小碎片，

but they're not really going away.

但是它们并没有消失。

They're not biologically compatible.

它们也不与自然兼容。

They're basically fouling up

它们基本上就是在堵塞

Earth's respiratory and circulatory systems.

地球的呼吸循环系统。

And because these materials are so prolific,

这些材料的量太大了，

because they're found in so many places,

它们几乎无所不在，

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

还有一个地方你会发现这种材料，苯乙烯

which is made from benzene, a known carcinogen.

它是由苯制成，一种已知的致癌物。

You'll find it inside of you.

你会在你自己的身体里发现它。

So, for all these reasons,

由于这些原因，

I think we need better materials,

我认为我们需要更好的材料，

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

对这些材料我们有三个关键的原则。

The first is feedstocks.

首先是原料。

Today, we use a single feedstock, petroleum,

今天我们使用单一的原料，石油，

to heat our homes, power our cars

来加热房间，驱动车辆

and make most of the materials you see around you.

制造绝大多数你周围的东西。

We recognize this is a finite resource,

我们明白这是一种有限的资源，

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

而每次你拿到一个包装就把一升半的

every time you get a package.

石油扔进垃圾筒也很疯狂。

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

第二，我们真的需要大量减少

in creating these materials.

用来制造这些材料的能源。

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

我说大量减少，因为10％不会起什么大作用。

We should be talking about half, a quarter,

我们应该起码讲一半，或者四分之一，

one-tenth the energy content.

甚至十分之一。

And lastly, and I think perhaps most importantly,

最后，我认为可能最重要的是，

we should be creating materials

我们应该创造能够适合

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

自然循环系统的材料。

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

这循环系统已经存在了上亿年的时间。

I fit into it, you fit into it,

我能溶解于其中，你也可以，

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

一百年以后，我的身体可以不用处理就回归到地球。

Yet that packaging I got in the mail yesterday

而我昨天收到的邮件包装

is going to last for thousands of years.

则会待上千年。

This is crazy.

这太夸张了。

But nature provides us with a really good model here.

但是自然给我们提供了一个非常好的模范。

When a tree's done using its leaves --

当一个树使用了它的叶子－

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

它的太阳能收集器，这些了不起的分子大小的光子捕获设备－

at the end of a season,

在季末的时候，

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

它没有把叶子包装好，送到一个树叶处理中心

and have them melted down to form new leaves.

溶解它们来制造新的树叶。

It just drops them, the shortest distance possible,

它仅仅是让叶子掉落，

to the forest floor,

这是到达地面最短的距离，

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

在那里它们会再循环进入明年的表层土壤。

And this gets us back to the mushrooms.

让我们回到蘑菇。

Because in nature,

因为在大自然中，

mushrooms are the recycling system.

蘑菇是循环系统。

And what we've discovered

我们发现的是

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

使用蘑菇身上你可能从来没看见过的一部分－

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

类似它的根结构，叫做菌丝体－

we can actually grow materials

我们可以生长出和传统

with many of the same properties of conventional synthetics.

合成材料有着相同属性的材料。

Now, mycelium is an amazing material,

菌丝体是一种很棒的材料，

because it's a self-assembling material.

因为它是一种自我组合材料。

It actually takes things we would consider waste --

它将被我们认为是废料的－

things like seed husks or woody biomass --

比如种子外壳或者木质生物质－

and can transform them into a chitinous polymer,

转化成角质状的聚合物，

which you can form into almost any shape.

这种聚合物可以被加工成任何形状。

In our process,

在我们的流程中，

we basically use it as a glue.

我们把它当作黏合剂来使用。

And by using mycelium as a glue,

通过使用菌丝体作为黏合剂，

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

就可以像在塑料行业一样把东西塑造成任何形状，

and you can create materials with many different properties,

可以创造许多种不同属性的材料，

materials that are insulating, fire-resistant,

隔音的，防火的，

moisture-resistant, vapor-resistant --

防潮的，防蒸汽的－

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

防震的，还有消音的材料。

But these materials are grown from agricultural byproducts,

不过它们全都是从农作物副产品中生长出来的，

not petroleum.

而不是石油，

And because they're made of natural materials,

因为它们是用天然材料制成，

they are 100 percent compostable

它们是百分之百可以

in you own backyard.

在你的后院降解的。

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

我想要和大家分享制造这些材料

required to make these materials.

所需的4个基本步骤。

The first is selecting a feedstock,

首先是选择原料，

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

最好是本地的，在你的区域就可以获得－

local manufacturing.

本地制造。

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

下一步把这些原料放进一个工具，

physically filling an enclosure, a mold,

把它们填进一个模具，

in whatever shape you want to get.

可以是你希望的任何形状。

Then you actually grow the mycelium through these particles,

接着就从这些粒子中生长出菌丝体，

and that's where the magic happens,

这就是魔法发生的地方，

because the organism is doing the work in this process,

因为这个过程中主要是这些生物自己在工作，

not the equipment.

而不是设备，

The final step is, of course, the product,

最后一部，当然就是形成最终产品，

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

无论它是包装材料，桌面，还是建材。

Our vision is local manufacturing,

我们的愿景是本地化的制造，

like the local food movement, for production.

就像本地食物运输那样生产。

So we've created formulations for all around the world

我们开发了利用全世界各地的不同的

using regional byproducts.

农作副产品的生产模式。

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

如果你在中国，你可以使用稻壳

or a cottonseed hull.

或者棉籽壳。

If you're in Northern Europe or North America,

如果你在北欧或者北美，

you can use things like buckwheat husks or oat hulls.

可以用荞麦皮或者燕麦皮。

We then process these husks with some basic equipment.

接着利用一些基本的设备来处理这些谷壳。

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

我想与你们分享一段在我们的厂房拍摄的短片

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

能让你感受一下实际的规模。

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

你所看见的实际上是德州的棉籽壳。

It's a waste product.

这些是生产废料。

And what they're doing in our equipment

它们在这些设备中，

is going through a continuous system,

经过一个连续的系统，

which cleans, cooks, cools

清洁，烧煮，冷却，

and pasteurizes these materials,

对其使用使用巴氏消毒法消毒。

while also continuously inoculating them with our mycelium.

并不断将它们与我们的菌丝体接种。

This gives us a continuous stream of material

这个流程提供给我们一个持续性的材料源

that we can put into almost any shape,

我们可以把它放进任何形状，

though today we're making corner blocks.

今天我们所做的是角块。

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

当把盖子掀开的时候，

that the magic really starts.

魔法便开始了。

Because the manufacturing process is our organism.

因为这个加工过程是这些生物。

It'll actually begin to digest these wastes

它们开始消化这些废料

and, over the next five days,

然后在接下来的五天里面，

assemble them into biocomposites.

将它们组织成生物复合材料。

Our entire facility

我们整个厂房

is comprised of thousands and thousands and thousands of these tools

由千千万万这样的工具组成。

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

它们在黑暗中安静地进行着材料地自我组装－

and everything from building materials

所有材料，从建筑材料到

to, in this case,

在这个案例中，

a packaging corner block.

包装用的角块。

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

我几次提到我们是生长材料。

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

不过具体发生了什么还有点难以描述。

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

所以我的团队

a typical growth cycle for us,

把典型的5天生长周期，

and condensed it into a 15-second time lapse.

压缩到一段15秒的短片中。

And I want you to really watch closely

我希望大家仔细地看

these little white dots on the screen,

这些屏幕上的白色小斑点，

because, over the five-day period,

因为在5天里面，

what they do is extend out and through this material,

它们将扩展至整个材料，

using the energy that's contained in these seed husks

利用这些谷壳里所包含的能量

to build this chitinous polymer matrix.

来建造这个角质聚合物。

This matrix self-assembles,

这种混合物会自行组合，

growing through and around the particles,

在这些白点周围生长，

making millions and millions of tiny fibers.

生成数百万的微小的纤维。

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

而没有消化掉的种壳，

actually become part of the final, physical composite.

最终也变成了复合物的一部分。

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

所以大家眼前看到的，是这部分刚刚完成自我组合。

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

实际过程会长一点，需要5天。

But it's much faster than conventional farming.

但是比传统的农业耕作要快很多。

The last step, of course, is application.

最后一步，当然就是应用了。

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

在这个例子中，我们生长出了一个角块。

A major Fortune 500 furniture maker

一个财富500强的家具商

uses these corner blocks to protect their tables in shipment.

用这些角块来保护装运过程中的桌子。

They used to use a plastic packaging buffer,

过去它们使用的是一种塑料缓冲包装，

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

不过用我们的材料可以提供

with our grown material.

与这些塑料一样的物理性能。

Best of all, when it gets to the customer,

最棒的是，当顾客收到产品，

it's not trash.

它们也不是垃圾。

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

它们可以无需任何处理就放进当地生态系统中，

and it's going to improve the local soil.

改善当地土壤质量。

So, why mycelium?

那么，为什么是菌丝体？

The first reason is local open feedstocks.

第一个原因是在本地开放性地获取原料。

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

我们希望能在全世界任何地方开展生产

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

而不用担心稻壳或棉籽壳价格攀升，

because you have multiple choices.

因为有多种选择。

The next is self-assembly,

第二是自我组合，

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

因为有机微生物担任着整个过程中的绝大部分工作。

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

你不需要太多的设备来建立一个生产中心。

So you can have lots of small facilities

所以我们可以在全世界

spread all across the world.

设立许多小的厂房。

Biological yield is really important.

生物产量是很重要的，

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

因为所有我们放进工具的原料都变成了最终产品，

even the parts that aren't digested

甚至没有消化的部分

become part of the structure,

也变成了结构的一部分，

we're getting incredible yield rates.

因此我们获得了惊人的收益率。

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

天然聚合物，我认为这是最最重要的，

because these polymers have been tried and tested

因为这些聚合物已经在过去的10亿年里，

in our ecosystem for the last billion years,

在我们的生态系统中经历过考验，

in everything from mushrooms to crustaceans.

从蘑菇到甲壳类的任何生物。

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

它们不会堵塞地球的循环系统，它们一直都很适用。

And while, today,

与此同时，今天，

we can practically guarantee that yesterday's packaging

我们能很肯定的说过去的包装

is going to be here in 10,000 years,

会持续10000年之久，

what I want to guarantee

我想保证的是

is that in 10,000 years,

在10000年里，

our descendants, our children's children,

我们的后代，我们的孩子的孩子

will be living happily and in harmony

会快乐和谐地生活在

with a healthy Earth.

一个健康地地球上。

And I think that can be some really good news.

而且我觉得这会是非常好的消息。

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）