African innovator turns plastic waste into liquid fuel

弗朗西斯·坎塔沃罗（Francis Kantavooro）has produced a locally assembled reactor that turns plastic waste intofuel例如汽油，柴油，煤油和加纳房屋的家庭天然气。

“Ghana spends [a lot of] money on plastic waste,” says Kantavooro. “When I was in the university as an engineer, I wanted to make a change. I started research into what the plastic waste could be used for and [how to] permanently get it out of the environmental system.”

Ghana produces 1.7 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only two per cent being recycled, according to the United Nations Development Programme.

“This is dangerous. It is a threat to thebeplay足球体育的微博and even tobeplay下载官网西西软件”，在加纳上西部地区长大的Kantavooro说。

The West African country has been battling plastic污染。它的几个沟槽被塑料窒息，促使该国采取大胆的措施来应对威胁。Ghana formally joined the Global Plastic Action Partnership — an initiative dedicated to eradicating plastic waste and pollution worldwide — this year, thus becoming the first African nation to do so.

“I started research into what the plastic waste could be used for and [how to] permanently get it out of the environmental system.”

弗朗西斯·坎塔沃罗（Francis Kantavooro）

Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation is currently developing a national roadmap for sustainably managing and reducing the country’s plastic waste challenge as part of the partnership, while continuing to boost its economic growth.

Kantavooro的反应堆使用300至900摄氏度之间的高温在没有氧气产生液体的情况下加热塑料。该过程称为热解，产生了液体燃料，例如汽油，柴油，煤油和家用天然气。

Since he began his project, members of the community collect plastic waste from all over and bring them to the reactor site.

然后将这些塑料废物放入反应堆中。进行热解过程，并产生燃料。反应堆的容量越大，塑料废物的造成越多。”他补充说。

该项目目前正在加纳北部地区进行试用，在那里非法采矿导致环境破坏降低了土地。beplay足球体育的微博该项目直接和间接地为150多人提供了工作。

“那些收集塑料废物的人将它们带到了项目地点。然后称重废物，收集者被支付50 PESEWA，相当于每公斤2美元。这也正在改善市政当局的卫生。”他告诉scidev.net。“这项创新使用一吨塑料，一天甚至更少生产800升柴油。The production cost is currently 60 US cents for every dollar of fuel [produced].”

^{弗朗西斯·坎塔沃罗（Francis Kantavooro}

Kantavooro的项目是加纳目前正在实施非法矿工的许多举措的一部分，在全国范围内禁止非法采矿以保护非法的矿工，其中许多人已失业水bodies and its dwindling forest cover.

In 2015 alone, Ghana imported US$477.4 million worth of crude oil. This means an alternative source of fuel would boost the country’s economy.

联合国发展计划全球环境基金正在支持Kantavooro完善其创新，以确保其消耗少量的燃料。beplay足球体育的微博联合国发展计划全球环境基金的国家经理乔治·奥尔辛（George Ortsin）说：“我们正在帮助他做的一件事是减少反应堆的厚度，以确保较少的火灾。”beplay足球体育的微博

^{该创新者正在将塑料废物制成的燃料存储在小容器中}

In Ghana’s Upper West region, where this innovation started, many people use motor bicycles as a means of transportation as bad roads discourage use of cars in the area.

Inussah Adam, who buys fuel from Kantavooro’s project for his motor bicycle thinks this technology could turn around economic livelihoods in the area.

“在这里，汽车自行车的燃料非常昂贵。如果我们能够像Kantavoooro那样在本地生产一些产品，那么我相信它可以更便宜且容易获得。”他说。

居民Koblah Adediah佤邦在加纳的上West region, adds that he used to spend 11 Ghana cedis (about US$2) on fuel for his bike in a week. Since he started buying the fuel Kantavooro produces, he now spends around half of that amount.

“他是一个年轻人，我知道是否有机会可以做出巨大的改变。如果支持该项目[IT]可以在卫生领域产生数千个工作。如果提供帮助，该项目将大大改善加纳人的生活，尤其是西澳人的生活。”他说。

^{One of his clients at the factory to fuel his motor bike}

加纳库马西技术大学化学工程高级讲师罗伯特·迪里·纳格尔（Robert Dery Nagre经济意义。

他告诉他说：“如果我们能够将其扩展到能够产生更高燃料的水平，那意味着我们正在收集塑料橡胶，然后解决能源需求。”scidev.net。

This may be viable in energy provision and economic returns. “The only cost that we would incur is the collection of the plastics. And if we are going to sell it, looking at the cost of fuel, then it’s very viable. The challenge is how to get the raw material in large quantity,” says Nagre.

这件作品由Scidev.net的撒哈拉以南非洲英语桌子制作。