Renewable Energy in Industrial Applications – an ... - Unido

RENEWABLE ENERGY IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
fibers, but whole logs are usually used for
veneers, such as plywood. It is also possible to
manufacture similar engineered cellulosic
products from other lignin-containing materials
such as bamboo, straw, or sugar cane residue.
Engineered wood products are beneficial from an
energy and CO2 perspective because:
• They can be made from fast growing crops or
residues;
• Their properties are superior to those of
natural wood;
• They open up new markets where wood could
not compete;
• They reduce the demand for tropical
hardwoods.
The standing wood stock is about 422 Gt
worldwide. The total global production of woodbased
panels, including plywood, particle board,
fibre board and oriented strand board, reached
266 million m 3 in 2007, about 175 Mt).
Production of saw logs and veneer logs
amounted to1 007 million m 3 in the same year,
and of industrial roundwood to around 1 705
million m 3 . This is around half of the total
roundwood production of 3 591 million m 3 in the
same year, the other half of which was used in
energy production.
Engineered wood products accounted for only
600 000 m 3 in 2007, about 0.3 Mt. Engineered
wood product markets are very small today
compared to conventional wood markets.
New products such as pressed bamboo can
achieve considerable strengths, comparable to
that of tropical hardwoods. This market is
growing rapidly. Total global bamboo production
is of the order of 100 Mt per year. China is by far
the largest producer, producing 60 Mt 80 Mt/yr),
followed by India. Bamboo production is rapidly
expanding worldwide.
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