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Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

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Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#71

Post by kaybe »

drugme wrote: post #42
jpatokal wrote: post #4

Bamboo 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…

Those pics made my day. And it's helpful to be reminded that, as techies - our skills just aren't that special or useful.

It depends. When I was around there, they had some trouble with solar panels. Talking to them, they had no clue at all about electricity (just like many first-world dwellers I guess - and probably not enough money to get somebody who has to come fix things). If a techie teamed up with them, they could make so much stuff, like powering a generator with a water wheel in the river - easier to understand, and all the problematic parts are what they are good at.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#72

Post by vram22 »

jpatokal wrote: post #4

Bamboo 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…

Those bamboo "bowls" - the long half-pipes - look cool. There seems to be a banana leaf plate in the photo too, like I said in another comment here.

http://www.patokallio.name/photo/travel/Thailand/ChiangDao/C...

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#74

Post by Loughla »

village-idiot wrote: post #38

I feel that a lot of concern about replacing wood is misplaced or fails to properly differentiate between different species of wood harvested in different locations. America has a mix of forests for nature preservation, recreation, and lumber production. The latter are very well managed, with loggers very careful to replace all the trees they remove with saplings so their sons and daughters have something to harvest…

What part of the states do you live in?

Lumber in the three states in my area is harvested in a completely unsustainable manner. Loggers will purchase the rights to log from farmers, and clear-cut every single piece of whatever is popular at the moment (black walnut right now, Ash and Maple in the 90's). No plan to replant, other than if nature itself makes a recovery.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#75

Post by marcinzm »

dominicr wrote: post #3

TL;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.

>But I doubt it'd make sense to use bamboo to build my house in snowy Norway, rather than locally sourced lumber.

Based on other comments a bamboo house (baring some kind of treatment and/or constant maintenance) may not last long in your climate due to differences/fluctuations in humidity/temperature.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#76

Post by blt »

Is there a pressing need to replace wood? I think, at least in the USA, most wooden goods are made from cheap soft woods that grow quickly, and can basically be treated as an agricultural commodity. Are trees inefficient at converting light/water/nitrogen to cellulose?

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#77

Post by unknowns »

As a wood worker, the answer on the post does agreat job. I will add only one more point. Wood working in 99% of cases does not lead to deforestation. In most countries it is hard to buy illegal wood. In South Africa we buy mostly pine where 2 trees are planted for every one sold. These forestries are heavily regulated and protected. They are businesses. The deforestation you usually hear about is in third world countries and not for wood sales but rather for land gain or things like palm oil.

If you are buying wood from a hardware outlet you can pretty much be guaranteed that it is safe wood. Many trees are protected by law nowadays.

In most cases, buying wood products actually increases tree mass globally and decreases pollution.

Buy wood products when you can. You will be planting more trees and decreasing pollution.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#78

Post by Klathmon »

blt wrote: post #76

Is there a pressing need to replace wood? I think, at least in the USA, most wooden goods are made from cheap soft woods that grow quickly, and can basically be treated as an agricultural commodity. Are trees inefficient at converting light/water/nitrogen to cellulose?

Well i think it's more that bamboo grows significantly faster than even the cheapest woods.

FFS some species of bamboo can grow over an inch an hour!

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