Environment

Concrete from wood? Yes, thanks to pine beetle

by Kaitlin | September 26, 2007 at 02:33 pm

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The pine beetle has become the foremost threat to North American forests, and particularly within the Lodgepole lumber-dependent BC forest industry. Millions of dollars in research money has been set aside to find solutions for the pine beetle problem, especially at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Now, a UNBC researcher has found a possible use for those unusable trees:

Sorin Pasca, a master's degree student in natural resources and environmental studies, found that wood attacked by the mountain pine beetle works as "an excellent ingredient for producing concrete," made by mixing cement with water and aggregate.

"Usually the aggregate consists of stones or rocks, but mountain pine beetle wood is a new option," Pasca said.

"Normally, cement repels organic materials such as wood, but for some reason cement sticks to lodgepole pine and this compatibility is even stronger when the tree has been killed, or you could say, enhanced, by the mountain pine beetle."

So we shall save BC's forests by...making concrete. Just a guess: Maybe it isn't saving trees that's highest on their list, but rather, making greenbacks. I'm reminded of a song.

"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot..."

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Barry Artiste

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:49 on September 26th, 2007

Kaitlin, Good stuff. I heard of this technique a few years ago in experimental stages.

But BC being earthquake prone, though temperate climate, a sound idea whose time has come is erecting aluminum/zinc coated steel frame homes, steel floors, steel siding and steel roofs, impervious to rust and the elements. Actually office buildings today are all steel and last far longer than a house. They can configure this steel in so many colours and configurations you can even make the steel look like a stone facade. Beside the complete fireproof quality of steel, home renovations are a snap only requiring a a pair of tin snips and a screw gun to remove the drywall. Now to me thats environmentally friendly. Lets see a pine beetle or salt air attack that home. They use these homes in high end houses in California. Like I said, warmer climates like BC are ideal. If you want more info, I have this acquaintence Cliff Clavin, a postal worker who............