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Alberta to make newsprint from beetle-damaged wood
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by Amy Judd | September 9, 2008 at 01:56 pm
789 views | 4 Recommendations | 10 comments
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Alberta is going to introduce a $28 million research project that aims to convert trees killed by moutain pine beetles into newsprint.
The project will focus on the development of new sensors by the Alberta Research Council that will be able to detect wood that has been killed by beetle infestation by finding the dryness and blue stain left behind. Printers will then be able to adjust their presses for the drier, weaker and darker wood by injecting more bleach, heat or water to compensate.
The result will be the transformation of a waste product into a viable commercial substance.
"Millions of dead and dying mountain pine beetle-infested trees will be put to commercial use to manufacture newsprint," said Doug Horner, minister of advanced education and technology, in a press release on Monday. "It may be welcomed in other parts of Canada and the world facing similar forestry challenges such as other insects, fire and drought."
The sensor and printing press technology will be tested at the Alberta Newsprint Company's Whitecourt plant. The installation is part of a research and development program that started in 2005 and will continue to full-scale production in 2015.
The Alberta Newsprint Company will be investing almost $17 million in the project and there is a $10 million grant from the province.
The pine beetle is a major problem outside of cities in most Canadian provinces, and the insect is migrating all the time.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 20:58 on September 9th, 2008
My photo is not a good representation of the pine beetle's effects on forests. Usually a third of the standing trees are dead and many litter the forest floor. It doesn't look nearly so pretty as this photograph. Also, this is in Rocky Mountain National Park, so it doesn't depict the infestation in Alberta. Nonetheless, the RMNP rangers say that the infestation should subside once the beetles run out of larger-sized trees in which to lay larvae. A period of re-growth will then take back the forests. -andy logan
wander.lust has contributed a photo to this story.
at 00:37 on September 10th, 2008
My photo is in Logan Lake, BC and not Alberta. This may be a minor or major detail depending on how you want to look at it. In any case this is one of those times when Nature will take her course and eventually we'll get some colder winters (to kill off the larvae) or we'll run out of trees and they'll die of starvation.
at 05:27 on September 10th, 2008
Photo taken in August 2007 during Trans Rockies Mountain Bike race. This was taken from Panorama ski resort in eastern B.C.
singlespeeder has contributed a photo to this story.
at 06:26 on September 10th, 2008
The forests in Colorado are being killed by mountain pine beetles and ips beetles. The western slope of the continental divide is farther gone than the eastern slope, but as this photo shows, damage to eastern slope trees is very noticeable.
t0day has contributed a photo to this story.
at 07:13 on September 10th, 2008
This photo was taken from a trail in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The devastation of large number of trees by pine beetles is easily seen.
CptAubrey has contributed a photo to this story.
at 10:43 on September 10th, 2008
This photo was taken in White River National Forest in Colorado Sept. 2008. The amount of dead trees is asounding compared to just a couple of years ago.
p.m.s. has contributed a photo to this story.
at 11:07 on September 10th, 2008
Much of the Colorado forests have suffered pine beetle damage. The beauty we see here in Colorado today will be changed for a lifetime.
This photo was taken on the west side of the continental divide in Rocky Mountain National Park. The small wishbone shape in the water on the left side is a small beaver. I wonder what will happen to all the wildlife that have made these mountain forest home once they are totaly destroyed?
tim.seibert has contributed a photo to this story.
at 20:44 on September 12th, 2008
This is not an image of a Mountain Pine Beetle but of a Tussock Moth Caterpillar.
Megloops has contributed a photo to this story.
at 17:13 on September 14th, 2008
Looking out at the colors here, my thought was that it would almost be a pretty site if you didn't know the carnage that was causing it. The Pine Beetle infestation in the northern Colorado mountains is supposed to take 9 out of 10 trees in many areas. The problem just start with the trees dying too as the dead trees are left standing and will make perfect tinder for the first forest fire in the area. It's not a question of "If" unfortunately.
csm_0426 has contributed a photo to this story.
at 17:32 on September 14th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.