I must say this is amazing
Inspiration for me.
Sustainable mmh ish. Paper sure is less fossile than plastic. On the other hand it takes more energy and water to make.
In the case of a grocery bag. A paper bag needs to be reused five to ten times to be less co2. A cotton tote some hundred times and a organic cotton multiple thousand times.
For 3d printing, the case may be different, since the lesser material mass in a plastic bag over paper, possibly don’t carry over to 3d.
Recycled pulp like plastic need to be mixed with some amount of virgin material to keep properties.
The real upside of paper is that it is easy degradable and that’s also the downside.
Great for waste reduction but less cyclic than you imagine.
@Torleif_Ceder On the other hand, paper is usually made where there is lots of water and lots of energy from hydropower.
Also, paper is made from wood which binds CO2 which can’t be said for plastics made from oil.
As for printing in paper I can’t really see the use for it except for art projects. Perhaps I’m missing something.
For water use I totally agree.
Recycling otherwise wasted cellulose might make some sense locally.
Using unnecessary amounts of clean energy though isn’t entirely clean since one use prohibit some one else’s use and fossile will in most cases make up the difference.
Wood is a net co2 sink but only if it’s locked into charcoal after use. If it biodegrades is nets zero. Still a win over petroleum based platics though.
Plastics from bio and recycled feedstock is obviously the better choice. They will at most leave the same emissions that where sunk at production.
Assuming a responsible end of life and waste stream, material choice usually boils down to the least energy investment for a needed utility which turns out, translate pretty linearly to cost.
And thus the common eco-friendly fallacy.
@Johan_Jakobsson
“Also, paper is made from wood which binds CO2 which can’t be said for plastics made from oil.”
The carbon in plastic is certainly sequestered from the atmosphere.
One of the ways that we may sequester CO2 from industrial and vehicle exhaust is by using CO2 as a feed-stock for the production of polymers.
There are fungi that can remove petroleum products from the environment, but as they do, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Perhaps we need to build a printer that can print from polymers that are produced from atmospheric CO2.
@mark_warlick As most plastics are made from (crude) oil I always assumed the carbon in plastic came from the oil…seeing how oil is hydrocarbons.
@Johan_Jakobsson
It is carbon that used to be sequestered in biomass, then in an oil deposit and is now sequestered in plastic.
So, it’s carbon that has been out of the carbon bio-cycle for a very long time, and that the bio-cycle will not have to accommodate until it is released from it’s current hydrogen bonds through oxidation.
Paper is made from recently alive plants. Plastic is made from plants and animals that were dead so long that they turned into black goo.
@mark_warlick Lots of fancy words there. I think we all know where oil comes from and we also know that the carbon in plastics comes from oil.
A simpler way of saying it would be “Yeah, we’re adding carbon to the atmosphere by 3D printing plastics”, correct?
Print from plastic made from carbon captured from the air? I say 3D crocheting from carbon nanotubes made from carbon captured from the air would be better. I guess the question is if we will ever start mass manufacturing of carbon nanotubes that way or not.
I imagine the results from this printer could be used for packing material and for the start of a paper machete project which could be art or even a parade float.
Perhaps made to shape paddings to be covered in fabric. Custom neck rest anyone?
@Johan_Jakobsson
No,
The plastic we use for printing is carbon that is not in the atmosphere.
It’s in the plastic, until you burn the plastic without capturing the carbon.
https://www.power-technology.com/comment/plastic-to-fuel/.
Enough discussing carbon. Time to go plant a tree?
@NathanielStenzel
I’ve got 40 acres planted in pines.
I think when these are harvested I might be able to switch to hemp.
@NathanielStenzel
Yes indeed,
Several harvests per season, more or less depending on latitude.
I think they get two in Canada.