2023-05-02 04:31:11
A group of scientists from the Center for the Study and Conservation of Birds of Prey in Argentina (CECARA), belonging to the National University of La Pampa (UNLPam) and the Karú Mapú Foundation develop a device to prevent the electrocution of birds on power lines at made from recycled plastic. The objective is to address two environmental problems: the risk posed to wildlife by low and medium voltage power distribution lines, and the reduction of single-use plastics that end up in open-air dumps.
“We already have the first prototype and the idea is to create a device that can be used throughout the country”, says the doctor in Biology Beatriz Martinez Miranzo, Conicet researcher at CECARA and member of the team. The project also contemplates the serial production of the devices, which will be carried out through the Karú Mapú Foundation. This productive development venture will be the first in La Pampa dedicated to transforming recycled plastics into new products.
Avian electrocution is a global problem and affects different species. In particular, researchers are concerned about the case of the crowned eagle (or Chaco eagle), which is in danger of extinction. “In the last ten years we have found about ten electrocuted eagles and there are less than a thousand left worldwide.”, says Martínez Miranzo.
Although there are some developments that serve to insulate cables from power lines and reduce this threat, for now they only occur abroad. “There are no national or regional companies dedicated to making these devices. It’s about $90 each and we are talking about hundreds of thousands of poles that need to be intervened”, indicates Jose SarasolaConicet researcher and director of CECARA.
Everything transform
The other part of the project was born from the Sustainable UNLPam Program, which is dedicated to creating environmental awareness and recycling plastics. They began receiving eco-bottles filled with plastic wrappers and bags within the university and soon they began to arrive from other municipalities that had nowhere to send what they recycled. The problem was that in La Pampa there was no business that would transform plastic into new products. and the only option was to send everything to Buenos Aires, with the economic and environmental cost that this implied.
“Today we work with 43 municipalities and the volume is impressive. In the last shipment we made there were almost 17 tons“, account Mariana Espindolacoordinator of UNLPam Sustentable and co-founder of the Karú Mapú Foundation.
The Foundation was created to set up a productive venture that would take advantage of plastics within the province itself and resolve local demands. “We began to investigate what the process to make plastic wood was like and, speaking with the guys from CECARA, we learned about the problem of electrocution of birds, so it occurred to us to make an insulating device,” adds Espíndola.
Both teams put together a work consortium, participated in a call for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and got funding. The Provincial Energy Administration (APE) and the Ministry of Production of La Pampa, who expressed interest in adopting the development, also participate.
“It is a network work. Many of us from CECARA collaborate in the environmental education part of the Foundation. In addition, this project helped them to buy the necessary machinery to start the productive enterprise”, points out Martínez Miranzo.
high voltage solutions
The anti-electrocution device developed by the researchers It has a cylindrical shape from which two plastic sheaths come out that will be in charge of covering the cables.. To come up with a simple and functional prototype, the scientists worked with industrial designers. Then they carried out different tests to evaluate the physicochemical properties of recycled plastic and analyzed mixtures with different percentages of different types such as wrappers, soda caps and bleach containers. “Ultimately, we were left with plastic packaging, which is usually left out of the recycling circuit of many industries”, remarks the biologist.
Another important aspect was to evaluate the resistance to UV radiation. Although the plastic wrappers already have anti-UV additives, it was necessary to verify if these properties were still there after going through the shredding and thermofusion processes. They also carried out voltage tests in an APE laboratory, subjecting the device to higher voltages than they would have once installed.
Currently it was installed there to see how it supports the erosion of the elements and the weather conditions of La Pampa. “The prototype is almost ready. We estimate that in a few months it will already be tested and working. The next step will be to move to scale production”, affirms Sarasola.
They don’t yet know how much each device will cost but They estimate that it will be cheaper than imported ones due to the fact that the raw material comes from recycling and the fact that there will be no import cost. “Now we are talking with the Ministry of Production of La Pampa about the possibility of financing the series production of the prototype. We are very enthusiastic about the idea of developing something that is useful for the province, for the preservation of fauna and to help reduce the volume of waste that ends up in open-air dumps.”, highlights Espíndola.
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