2024-09-21 22:40:32
Wednesday, September 22, 2024, 00:40
Comment
Copy the link
WhatsApp
Facebook
X (formerly Twitter)
LinkedIn
Telegram
Lines
What can a capital have in common with a ship? Well, little. At least outside the plans of Itsas Biodesign, a Biscayan business project that researches to use the first as a raw material to produce the second. Well, in fact they are more enthusiastic and what they want is to show us how, in many of its current industrial uses, it is already possible to replace plastic with environmentally friendly materials. For them, sustainability and eco design are the rules, and amazing boards can be their first boards.
“We could have started producing something else, it’s true, but we wanted to focus on a product intended for a specific audience and not for mass consumption. So we think that, because of their contact with nature, tourists can find an interesting production choice for their boards that want to do without polymer foams, which are mainly from hydrocarbons,” the promoter of the plan, Carlos San . industrial designer with more than three years of experience who has dedicated much of the last four years to researching the potential of new materials such as mycelium.
Produce with low impact
They are divided with polyurethane and polyethylene in the core of the board as well as glass or carbon on the surface
like glue
And what is that? We can say that it is the root of the fungus and that it has filaments – hyphae – that provide water and nutrients, although the important thing here is that when they have branches together the soft material they grow, filled . empty spaces as if they were glue. They act, therefore, as a natural material that produces a compact mass that can be shaped to create very resistant, light and, therefore, biodegradable structures.
“The key is that we can take advantage of the residual biomass generated by agriculture and agri-food in the environment to reduce the use of fossil-based materials, which in addition to reducing, has a significant impact on the environment and health, both due to the production of their processes as well as the elimination of its waste,” explains San José, who throughout this period has had the collaboration of scientist Marisa Peña, international reference in mycelium production processes, and Iván González, professor of Technology at the University of Deusto specializing in additive manufacturing.In addition, its initiative is supported by Beaz, SPRI and the Getxo City Council.
Although the design is almost ready and they hope to start selling the first panels next year, San José knows that this advance has not been able to be completely manufactured with biomaterials. Yes, it has been possible to use them to replace polyurethane and polyethylene of the core of the board as well as glass or carbon fibers of the surface, but they do not find natural resins that provide the same strength as epoxy or polyester resins. “There the research has not been developed and those that are already sold are only 50% natural,” San José lamented. So we have production boards representing a 90% reduction in environmental impact compared to those on the market and others that, on the other hand, are at 80% or 70% depending on the type of resin that has been used. .
Everything will go … or wonder. Now, they present both options and only produce highly competitive boards. From there on down, anyone can be part of your target audience, from beginners to those who get into the water as soon as sea conditions allow. « We can give them a board of the same level as another made with glass or carbon and that, unlike what happens with wood, which is also sustainable, will not need maintenance. We have noticed interest in amazing schools, which in addition to placing large orders, work as secretaries and sometimes even as a sales channel, but commissions can also be bought through our website and we want to work with designs, style board. those who build,” explained Carlos San José.
Itsas Biodesing is one of the business initiatives that will present their projects that will seek funding on October 15 and 16 at the Euskalduna Palace during the B-Venture festival, the start-up conference organized by EL CORREO, which this year celebrates its ninth edition supported by the Department of Industry, Energy Transformation and Stability of the Basque Government, the development agency SPRI, the Regional Council of Bizkaia and the City Council of Bilbao, entities joined as partners by BStartup of Banco Sabadell, BBK , Laboral Kutxa, CaixaBank, Banco Santander and the University of Deusto.
A tool with countless uses
“Surfboards are the first use that mushroom mycelium has been given. We are already planning a project in the automotive sector, which has seen the possibility of using in the box of some parts. In addition to the packaging sector, in the future we also want to sell insulating elements for construction,” Carlos San José, promoter and production manager at Itsas Biodesing.
And it’s short, because this biomaterial has great functionality and is already used to make everything from leather to furniture. The key to this change is that the properties of the mycelium – its degree of elasticity, hardness, lightness or resistance to fire, for example – can be determined by adjusting the choice of the mushroom strain, the substrate where it grows and the final use of the conditions .
Comment
Report a bug
#Tables #rules