Wood: the Pluses, the Minuses, and the Neutrals

 Hello everyone!

I am back and going to talk about a specific resource today - wood. Wood is undoubtedly a very common product that is prevalent in our day to day lives, for houses and furniture, and for energy like in fireplaces. Wood is such a common commodity due to trees being such a convenient source of resources as well as the fact that a tree can be thoroughly used, with no parts going to waste. Although the abundance and convenience of the resource are great benefits to it as a bioproduct, there are some negatives to the resource that essentially render the resource to be considered as a relatively neutral resource.  

As mentioned before, one of the advantages to wood as a resource is that it is fairly convenient to harvest and use up. Harvesting methods are typically categorized into three distinct forms, selection harvest is where the trees are specifically selected based on size and distinction as either groups or single trees, clear-cutting - where all the trees are cleared from a specific region allowing for regeneration of new saps with the increased space, and shelterwood harvest where trees are harvested over a longer stretch of time. Once the trees are harvested in these separate forms, they are sent to the sawmill where the tree is cut into lumber. What is great about this process is that all aspects of the tree is used to the fullest extent, where the bark is used for mulch, sawdust for animal bedding, and then the wood scraps can be converted to energy forms such as heat and energy, which makes the process of the harvesting and converting into lumber much more efficient and lucrative. 

Wood can be considered a very sustainable and good resource. Given its abundance and efficiency through the harvesting and processing previously mentioned, it is a very easily attainable resource which makes it plenty useful and obtainable. A U.S. Green Building Council article highlights how wood allows us to “reduce, reuse, and recycle” given that we optimize the materials used and effectively reduce the amount we waste, this also ties into what was mentioned previously. Although lumber itself is not a great lasting resource since it gets weakened over time due to exposure to moisture, there have been some leads to making the wood products last even longer through engineered wood products. Engineered wood essentially uses already natural wood and then reengineers it to make it “enhanced” and last longer and be more durable. This form of engineered wood actually improves the idea of wood as a bioproduct since this form of engineering allows it to last for longer periods of time and not go to waste. The following infographic is a great visual on showing the versatility of wood as a bioproduct by showing how thoroughly it is used and by showing what these parts are used for!

This infographic was found in an article regarding the forest bioeconomy in British Columbia. 


Now there are certain negatives to wood as a bioproduct. Primarily in regards to carbon in the atmosphere. Due to the photosynthesis cycle, trees are producing carbon dioxide, and when these wood products are inevitably burned (either for use in heat or electricity or to be disposed of) it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is argued that carbon dioxide is “stored away” but it does just eventually return back into the atmosphere which is regarded as being “carbon neutral”. In an age where climate change is a huge concern, carbon emissions are something that needs to be controlled better and wood being used as a constant resource does not do much to dramatically improve it, nor does it necessarily make things worse. While it may not be doing significant damage to the environment overall, it must be concerned as a relatively neutral bioproduct resource since it does have benefits for society with some caveats that do not necessarily benefit the environment.

Additionally, there are arguments that the harvesting of wood can be quite harmful to the environment, as it can either damage the area or lack biodiversity. This would be specifically with the clear-cutting harvesting method since it completely clears the area, it allows the land to be more susceptible to erosion and damage, which negatively impacts the environment. Similarly, with the shelterwood harvest form, there truly is not that much biodiversity with having the same crop of trees growing in a patch for an extended period of time, and it leads to issues within the ecosystem down the road. 

I hope this blog post has been insightful in learning more about the advantages and disadvantages to using wood as a resource and allows for you to draw your own conclusions regarding the usage of wood!








References:

  1. Lesson 13: Forest to Lumber

  2. U.S. Green Building Capitol Article:

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/sustainable-building-why-wood-our-most-valuable-resource 

  1. Lesson 15: Engineered Wood Products

  2. Forest Bioeconomy in British Columbia Article:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/supporting-innovation/bio-economy 

  1. Lesson 17: Is Wood Good?

  2. Revision Online Article:

https://revision.co.zw/advantages-disadvantages-wood-source-energy/

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