Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
1–10 of 108 posts
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#2This article makes no mention of biomass per acre when farmed.
As a C4 photosynthesis plant, bamboo presumably grows more biomass per year than other trees.
If true, that would seem significant enough to outweigh many of the disadvantages.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#3TL;DR answer: because they're different things.
Using bamboo for building houses tends to result in using different building methods & architecture. Which can look amazing (see http://ibuku.com/). But I doubt it'd make sense to use bamboo to build my house in snowy Norway, rather than locally sourced lumber.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#4Bamboo isn't going to replace lumber for most permanent uses, but it sure is handy when you need to put something together in a pinch.
I was once trekking in northern Thailand with some Akha hill tribe guides. When it was time for dinner, they cut down a large bamboo and within minutes fashioned essentially a complete dinner service out of it:
* A framework for their overnight hut/lean-to
* A pot for boiling rice
* A frame to hold the pot over an open fire
* Bowls for serving and eating
Crappy pics:
http://www.patokallio.name/photo/travel/Thailand/ChiangDao/C...
http://www.patokallio.name/photo/travel/Thailand/ChiangDao/C...
http://www.patokallio.name/photo/travel/Thailand/ChiangDao/F...
(...and obviously the darker pieces of bamboo were reused from previous camps.)
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#5TL;DR answer: because they're different things. Using bamboo for building houses tends to result in using different building methods & architecture. Which can look amazing (see http://ibuku.com/ ). But I doubt it'd make sense to use bamboo to build my house in snowy Norway, rather than locally sourced lumber.
Your TL;DR doesn't do the answer justice IMO, especially the "Lumber" section. It's not just that they're different, it's that lumber is more versatile because it's more easy to shape it to fit your design.
I don't know anything about woodworking (or bamboo-working for that matter) but if I am to trust this Quora answer it seems that bamboo is only really good if you want bamboo-shaped elements. Otherwise you need highly processed bamboo to emulate the versatile lumber boards:
>The process is fairly involved. Typically, bamboo is harvested, leached in water to remove starches (so it does not rot so quickly) or boiled in hydrogen peroxide (or both), dried, and baked at high temperature to darken its color. Sliced into thin strips, it is arranged in layers, usually with some degree of weaving to improve strength, mixed with resins, and then subject to high temperature and pressure to set the epoxy.[10] The resulting “board” is then stained and sealed, much like a regular hardwood floor.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#6Bamboo isn't going to replace lumber for most permanent uses, but it sure is handy when you need to put something together in a pinch. I was once trekking in northern Thailand with some Akha hill tribe guides. When it was time for dinner, they cut down a large bamboo and within minutes fashioned essentially a complete dinner service out of it: * A framework for their overnight hut/lean-to * A pot for boiling rice * A…
Wow, those bowls are great, yet so simple. It's amusing to think they'd probably be about £25 each from John Lewis.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#7This article makes no mention of biomass per acre when farmed. As a C4 photosynthesis plant, bamboo presumably grows more biomass per year than other trees. If true, that would seem significant enough to outweigh many of the disadvantages.
Big if true!
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#8The list of uses is missing the best one: clothing!
Bamboo fabric is very soft and comfortable, if you haven't tried it yet you should!
Downside: it doesn't last as long as cotton, and takes a bit longer to dry after washing.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#9Maybe they should focus on the carbon capture aspects (which are remarkable, bamboo grows fast) and try to work around the other issues
Does bamboo aggregate exists?
Though cellulose to fuel is kinda promising and still something to be cracked (pun intended), maybe it will never work.
Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?
#10Bamboo isn't going to replace lumber for most permanent uses, but it sure is handy when you need to put something together in a pinch. I was once trekking in northern Thailand with some Akha hill tribe guides. When it was time for dinner, they cut down a large bamboo and within minutes fashioned essentially a complete dinner service out of it: * A framework for their overnight hut/lean-to * A pot for boiling rice * A…
Wow, those bowls are great, yet so simple. It's amusing to think they'd probably be about £25 each from John Lewis.
At least, those millennials will be lapping them up.