Save The Planet – Grow More Trees – Use More Wood

Ian de la Roche, PhD Faculty of Forestry

University of British Columbia

“Forestry: Its Place in the Global Bioeconomy”

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Forestry 100 November 17, 2014

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Today, I’ll address the following questions…

1. What is the bio-economy?

2. What role is forestry playing?

3. What are the global drivers?

4. What are the important transformative technologies?

5. An example that is making a difference

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Energy Materials

Hydrocarbon Economy

Fuels/Chemicals

Carbohydrate Economy

Adapted from Albert a Ingenuity Retreat, Sept. 2008

Sustainable Living and Environmental Stewardship: A Window on the Bio-economy

Functionality Price Supply

Functionality Price Supply Renewable Carbon Neutral

Bio-economy: All economic activities relating to invention, development and production of biological processes, products, and applications (OECD Definition ).

Lignocellulosic biomass is at the core of the bio-economy…

Cellulose

Hemicellulose

Lignin Cellulose

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Up to now the focus has been around the bio-refinery

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Bioenergy Biofuels Biochemicals Biomaterials

Mosquito Airplane (mostly plywood)

The wood fibre renaissance is all about rediscovering, adapting and advancing next-generation wood fibre-based biomaterials

…. and next generation airplanes will consist of stronger, lighter and renewable wood-based constituents 6

What about hi-rise timber construction by 2020??

Michael Green Vancouver Architect

Paper and packaging giving instant visible indication of pathogens and deactivating them High speed manufacturing: coating or 3D-printing.

Sentinel Project

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Concern about Climate Change remains the biggest global driver for Clean Energy and the Bioeconomy…….

…. and the data backs that up

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Numbers and types of natural disasters

J. Leaming and D. Guha-Sapir, 2014. New England journal of Medicine

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…. but there are other important factors shaping the bioeconomy

1. Climate Change 2. Depletion of Non-Renewable Resources 3. Globalization of Trade and Supply Chains 4. New Technologies and Innovation 5. Population Growth 6. More Affluent and Demanding Consumers

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Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, medium variant (2011).

Nearly all future population growth will be in the World's Less Developed Countries

2012 7.0 million 2025 8.1 million

Population growth will continue to put ever increasing demand on the planet’s resources…

Demand

…. more people and more demanding

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Energy Materials

Hydrocarbon Economy

Fuels/Chemicals

Carbohydrate Economy

What are the technologies bringing about transformative change?

Technology Platforms

Chemistry Physics Engineering

Digital and Wireless Genomics Nanotechnology

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The digital and wireless revolution: Drone embedded LIDAR technology

Genomics in forestry

Current Genome BC Projects in Forestry

I. Resistance to Biotic Stress (pine, spruce diseases)

II. Adaption to Abiotic Stress (drought and frost)

III. Growth and Yield Improvements (poplar, spruce)

IV. Wood Quality Improvements (strength and flexibility)

V. Sequencing the spruce and pine genomes 14

Genomics: “A branch of molecular biology concerned with structure, function, evolution & mapping of genomes; includes genomics, proteomics, metagenomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, etc”

Is the Nano-World Different?

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Nano-World and Nature: Optical Efficiency in Ultra-Thin Structures

and Nano-cellulose

amorphous region

acid hydrolysis H2SO4

Cellulose Nanocrystals

crystalline region

microfibril :

Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC)

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Cellulose Nanocrystals

Opacity Colour

Porosity Stronger than Steel

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Nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are used in baseball bats, tennis racquets, and some car parts because of their greater mechanical strength at less weight per unit volume than that of conventional materials.

Electronic properties of CNTs have made them a candidate for flat panel displays in TVs, batteries, and other electronics. Nanotubes for various uses can be made of materials other than carbon.

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Nanofilms

Different nanoscale materials can be used in thin films to make them water-repellent, anti-reflective, self-cleaning, ultraviolet or infrared-resistant, or electrically conductive. Nanofilms are used now on eyeglasses, computer displays, and cameras to protect or treat the surface.

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Next-Gen Biomaterials

There are 750 million cars on the road today. By 2050, expect between 2.0-2.5 billion vehicles. Bill Reinert, Toyota Cellulose Nanocrystals, the new renewable bio-composite, is lighter and stronger than current structural material used in vehicle production.

Borregaard’s biorefinery was a repurposed sulfite pulp mill that evolved over time …..

• Specialty cellulose, lignin products, ethanol, yeast, yeast extracts, vanillin, diphenols, fine chemicals

• Two biorefineries: Sapsborg, Norway & Solothurn, Switzerland

Wood 1000 kg

CO2 45kg

Ethanol 50kg

Yeast (Switzerland) 20kg

Vanillin (Norway) 3kg

Bioenergy (bark, side streams from the production, biogas from the waste water treatment)

Wood yard Digester

Bleaching plant

Ethanol plant

Ethanol plant

Lignin plant

Lignin 400kg

Specialty Cellulose 400kg

Drying machine

Jack Saddler 2013

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North America second commercial lignin plant will opened next year as a bolt-on to the West Fraser pulp mill in Hinton, Alberta

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CNC plant at Domtar’s Quebec pulp & paper mill – a Canadian first

Building Systems

Light Wood Frame

Mass Timber Frames

Mass Timber Plates

Hybrid

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Technology is driving new innovations and opportunities in a range of wood building systems

…. combination of CLT, glulam, steel and concrete

Photo Credit: FPInnovations

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Wood Solutions –examples below include engineered wood products and hybrid applications…

Buildings are responsible for:

• 40% of the world’s consumption of energy and materials

• 34% of the world’s CO2 emissions

• 40% of the world’s solid waste in landfills

• 17% of the fresh water consumption

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Steel-frame Insulated concrete form

Wood-frame

How do these materials compare?

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LCA application: material comparisons

This data was generated using the simplified LCA software tool, the Athena EcoCalculator. All walls are shown relative to wood, which is the benchmark.

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Carbon storage in the Zero-Carbon House?

29 tonnes of CO2 are captured in a typical house. This offsets five years of driving the family car.

Source: FPInnovations calculation

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Wood substitution has significant carbon benefits

• On average, every metric ton of wood used instead of something else displaces 3.7 metric tons of CO2.

• In addition, every metric ton of wood in use is sequestering 1.8 metric tons of CO2.

Deforestation of Haiti

Border between Haiti and Dominican Republic

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Google Earth, 2013

Deforestation continues to be a huge issue in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Year Hectares2010 674,419,0002025 623,164,0812050 537,745,4532100 366,908,195

Deforestation in Africa

FAO 2010

Globally deforestation accounts for 12-18% of GHG emissions IPCC

Source: Pöyry

Most of the growing global demand for wood fibre could be meet from fast-growing plantations

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Asia continues to lead in forest plantations

Industrial forest plantations by region, 2012

Idufor, Strategic Review of Forest Plantations 2012

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…. Perhaps an option is using plantation bamboo as a construction material in Sub Saharan Africa

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Building affordable houses that respect local values and customs, and sources local materials is key….

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Built with engineered bamboo materials

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Coconut timber construction in Banda Aceh

Building affordable houses that respect local values and customs, and sources local materials is key….

Global disasters are devastating and occurring with greater frequency…..

Haiti 2010 225,000 killed 2 million homeless

Java 2006 5,800 killed 1.5 million homeless

Pakistan 2005 80,000 killed 3.3 million homeless

Sichuan 2008 68,000 killed 5 million homeless

Turkey 1999 45,000 killed 0.6 million homeless

Indian Ocean 2004 230,000 killed 1.7 million homeless

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Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Haiti, January 2010 41

Building back is often less safe than before the disaster

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Canada has been actively involved in the reconstruction in Haïti and Indonesia

Pre-fab components manufactured in BC and shipped to Aceh for assembly by locally trained workers

Canada’s factory-built housing sector responds to tsunami in Indonesia, 2004.

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A total of 448 houses were supplied from BC to several villages in Aceh province, Indonesia.

The Britco experience

Save the Children was very concerned about performance after some failures in their first housing efforts.

Save the Children chose pre-fab to address sustainability, durability and quality concerns.

Indonesian architect (and head of Indonesian reconstruction agency BRR) helped in the design.

Careful wood treatment for termites and decay.

Imperfect client/supplier relationship – lessons learned.

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Britco houses, four years later

We sent a team of experts to examine durability, acceptance and adaptation of the houses supplied to Aceh from BC, and other examples built by other NGOs.

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Outstanding performance in Aceh

Four years later, the Britco houses show superior performance and acceptance.

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Supply chain integration for a total solution

We can offer a holistic solution Disaster relief and affordable housing to developing countries

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Green Transportation in Vancouver – bio-cycles??

Thank You!! Questions?

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