Wood the good, the bad, and the neutral.
Wood is easily one of the most used resources in our day-to-day lives. It is all around us from our homes to cars to beds, etc. It is common knowledge that wood is one of the better resources we have in terms of carbon neutrality compared to things like steel, concrete, petroleum, etc. But everything has downsides and that applies to wood as well so here we’ll discuss the good, bad, and neutral aspects of wood. Wood harvesting is some of the most efficient in the world as almost nothing goes to waste. Sawmills have become increasingly efficient in their process and the wood that isn’t used for lumber is made into other things such as sawdust and woodchips for things like paper, or energy. Roughly 52% of the wood harvested actually gets turned into lumber which then can be used for building. (“L13. Forest to Lumber, BBE 1002, UMN”). Another great thing about wood is how many different kinds there are and they all have different benefits. For example, some types of wood are more flexible than others and can be used for things like baseball bats and decks. Hardwood can be made into pillars and floors. Wood can also be turned into engineered wood products which can make use of crooked and small trees as well as sawdust and things like branches (“L.15 Engineered Wood Products, BBE 1002, UMN”). Engineered wood can be very helpful as it can help make use of leftover wood and be made into specific dimensions if needed so not only is it efficient it is also greatly beneficial.
As with many things wood also has its downsides. An example of this is the moisture content in fresh wood. Sawmills usually dry fresh-cut logs in a kiln for some time before they are shipped out and the reasons for this are to prevent quicker rot, kill any wood-eating insects that might be present, reduce the weight of lumber for shipping and increase the strength properties (“L.14 Moisture Pertaining to Wood Use, BBE 1002, UMN”). Moisture in wood can be a big deal as it causes wood to rot which is not only bad for the building but also for the environment as wood absorbs carbon dioxide and when it starts to rot all of this carbon becomes released.
We’ve all learned about photosynthesis as kids so it is common knowledge that trees absorb carbon out of the atmosphere. Here is where carbon neutrality comes into play, think of it as a scale that has carbon emissions on one end and ways to absorb carbon from the atmosphere on the other and we need to keep it balanced. When we use wood as a building material we must understand that the carbon stored in it will eventually be released back into the atmosphere. A very common proposal is that if that’s true we should just build more wooden structures but it’s not as simple as that. That would only give us a temporary solution but it wouldn’t solve our carbon problem. We must understand the benefits and downsides of using wood although it is far better than some other resources we must also stay informed about its negative properties.
“L13. Forest to Lumber,” Canvas: BBE 1002 (001). Canvas, 06 Nov. 2022. Web. 06 Nov. 2022.
https://canvas.umn.edu/courses/331895/pages/l13-forest-to-lumber?module_item_id=8443390
“L14. Moisture in Wood,” Canvas: BBE 1002 (001). Canvas, 06 Nov. 2022. Web. 06 Nov. 2022.
“L15. Strength of Wood,” Canvas: BBE 1002 (001). Canvas, 06 Nov. 2022. Web. 06 Nov. 2022.
https://canvas.umn.edu/courses/331895/pages/l15-engineered-wood-products?module_item_id=8443403
What Is Carbon Neutrality and How Can It Be Achieved by 2050? | News | European Parliament. 2019 Oct. 3AD, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20190926STO62270/what-is-carbon-neutrality-and-how-can-it-be-achieved-by-2050.
