Wood Sector Research Articles

Split wooden rods for novel wood-based boards in the construction sector

Wood has been utilized as a building material for thousands of years. Nowadays, its renewable nature and carbon-storing capacity can become important factors in climate change mitigation efforts. This has led to a resurgence of timber engineering in recent years, with impressive multi-story timber buildings worldwide. However, it should not be overlooked that the wood sector will face several challenges in the coming years and decades to pave the way to a leading role of wood in the desired transition toward bioeconomy. Based on the assumption that an increasing demand for wood will make it a more precious resource, a couple of strains will emerge across the entire value chain of wood processing. This calls for innovations to address issues arising from predicted changes in resource provision, to increase material yields, and to promote reuse after the end of life. Our conceptual article proposes a new wood separation and processing method. This approach is inspired by the well-known production of wood shingles and is currently being developed for the implementation of new wood-based products.

Predicting wood moisture classes by sound frequency spectra and Explainable Machine Learning during milling

ABSTRACT Varying moisture content in wood lead to problems in the automatic selection of optimised machining parameters. Therefore, production in the wood sector can be improved by the automatic identification of moisture classes during machining. In this work, wood milling was monitored by a novel optical microphone to detect differences in wood moisture classes. A full factorial randomised design was executed along with four moisture classes (dried, conditioned, wet and frozen) and two cutting speeds as independent variables. The measured signals were segmented by extracting information from each cut and were transformed to the frequency domain. A supervised univariate feature ranking based on χ ²-tests was applied to select the most important frequencies. Machine Learning was applied to the selected spectral data to classify the cutting speeds and moisture classes. After testing several classification models, ensemble models with regression-tree learners were the best-performing model type achieved an average validation accuracy of 97.2%. The model explanation was done by Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanation based on regression trees as a simple model, where the frequencies that are responsible for the separation of the data could be identified and were used for retraining the model, achieving a validation accuracy of 90.5%.

Wood properties of three south american species planted in consortium

The use of tropical wood species in reforestation can be an alternative resource to meet the demand from the industrial wood sector. However, this strategy remains very limited, even while tropical forests continue to be deliberately exploited for the selective extraction of native species of highly commercial value. To test the potential of tropical species in reforestation, it is first necessary to evaluate the production and quality of the wood produced. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the quality Astronium urundeuva, Astronium fraxinifolium and Terminalia argentea woods, all aged 22 years, from a heterogeneous plantation located in the municipality of Selvíria-MS. From each species, 15 trees were selected. A 10 cm thick disc was removed from the base of each tree. Samples were taken from the discs near the bark region to evaluate the anatomical characteristics and the physical and mechanical properties of the wood. According to the results, it was found that only compressive strength did not differ significantly among the species. Astronium urundeuva presented the highest values for basic density and apparent density, and Terminalia argentea presented the highest values for fiber length, fiber wall thickness and vessel element diameter. The best Pearson correlations were found for basic density and apparent density, both for Astronium fraxinifolium and Astronium urundeuva. The best regression equations obtained were correlations between basic density and apparent density for Astronium fraxinifolium and Astronium urundeuva. The linear model best fits the data for these correlations. The greater growth of Terminalia argentea trees caused lower wood density owing to the lower rate of competition among trees. Based on the results and according to wood strength standards, the three species can be classified in the D40 strength class. According to the obtained results, these can support information to be compared with some species used commercially for structural purposes and other uses.

Gluing of thermally modified silver fir wood planed by horizontal milling machine

This study was conducted to provide information regarding the quality of gluing of Silver fir wood (Abies alba Mill.) planed at different feed speeds after thermal modification. Four groups of sixteen air-dried fir samples were prepared. Three groups were thermally modified at different temperatures (160°C, 190°C, and 220°C) for 3 hours. The processes that followed included planning with two feed speeds (half of the samples at 3m/min and the other half at 10 m/min), the gluing, and finally, conducting mechanical tests to assess shear strength and wood failure. The gluing shear strength underwent a progressive decrease with increasing modification temperature for both feed speeds, with reductions ranging from 1.37% to 14.63% compared to natural wood. Wood failure did not show a linear relationship, with a decrease at 160°C but an increase at higher temperatures compared to natural wood. The feed speed had a significant effect on gluing shear strength, with higher feed speed resulting in decreased strength for natural wood but increased strength for thermally modified wood. Thermal modification of fir wood at temperatures of 220°C had a detrimental effect on the gluing shear strength and wood failure. This was caused by the deterioration of wood components and alterations in mechanical properties. The results of this study offer significant knowledge for improving the gluing process and establishing appropriate parameters for thermally modified fir wood. This type of wood has potential uses in the wood sector, specifically in the manufacturing of engineered wood products

Encouraging training skills in the furniture and woodworking industries through an innovative simulation-based approach

The article presents the results of the project aimed at applying gamification in education. ENCOURAGING SUnRISE ERASMUS+ project builds on the emerging needs of companies in the Wood and Furniture Industry to give employment to young graduated generations (in HE and VET) including: students prepared technically and students motivated to work in this specific sector. To achieve this challenge, the project explored the use of gamification and the Simulation Learning Environment. In particular, ENCOURAGING SUnRISE introduced gamification to the Wood and Furniture Sector training program. The project is a step to trigger modernisation in initial and continuous VET in the sector through gamification and simulation tools. Therefore, the objective of this research was to prepare and investigate the influence of gamification and the Simulation Learning Environment in improving competencies in the furniture and wood sector, as an innovative educational solution. After identifying the needs and challenges, a selection of skills (soft and hard) was made to perform various tasks in the scenario-based simulation game. The quality assessment of the course has been highly rated by students, teachers, and workers As well as the rate of improvement of technical and non-technical knowledge at the end of the course. This creates a chance to respond to needs and opportunities of traditional industries by offering innovative didactic approaches. ENCOURAGING SUnRISE may in a modern and attractive way reinforce the top skills that the most outstanding workers of the sector usually display.

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Juvenile Wood of Anadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg. from Thinning

Reducing the rotation period through thinning and changing planting spacing can influence the technological properties of wood, with little attention paid to the effects of these variables on the raw material, which limits its processing in the wood sector. This work aimed to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of wood from Anadenanthera peregrina juveniles thinned in three planting spacings (3 m × 3 m, 4 m × 4 m, and 5 m × 5 m). The physical properties in the base––top and pith––shell directions and the mechanical properties of the samples were evaluated. The results indicate better technological properties for wood withwith larger spacings. The physical properties showed decreasing trends in the base––top direction and increasing trends in the pith––bark direction, with a distinct trend in the degree of collapse. The average basic density of the different planting spacings varied between 0.47 g cm−3 and 0.63 g cm−3. The mechanical properties obtained for the 4 m × 4 m spacing were superior to those of the other spacings. Wood from young A. peregrina is an alternative for industrial processing, as wood from higher planting densities is more suitable for purposes that require resistance and rigidity.

Projection of the Carbon Balance of the Hungarian Forestry and Wood Industry Sector Using the Forest Industry Carbon Model

As forest-based climate change mitigation has become a crucial element of international climate policy it is of increasing importance to understand the processes leading to the carbon offsetting capacity of the sector. In our study, we assessed the climate benefits of contrasting forest management strategies: decreasing harvest and enlarging the forest carbon stock, or increasing harvest to increase carbon uptake, wood product carbon pools, and substitution effects. We developed the Forest Industry Carbon Model (FICM) which is a new carbon accounting tool covering forest biomass, dead organic matter, soil, and harvested wood product pools, as well as avoided emissions through product and energy substitution. We modeled the carbon balance of the Hungarian forest industry under three different scenarios. In the business as usual (BAU) scenario, we assumed no changes in the current harvest and afforestation levels. In the extensification scenario, we assumed that the harvest and afforestation levels drop to half, while in the intensification scenario, we assumed an increase in afforestation, improved industrial wood assortments, and a gradual increase in logging, reaching the highest level as per sustainability criteria by 2050. Our results show that the intensification scenario is characterized by the largest net removals and the maximized product and energy substitution effects. By 2050, the net forest industry carbon balance reaches −8447 kt CO2 eq under the BAU scenario, while −7011 kt CO2 eq is reached under the extensification scenario and −22,135 kt CO2 eq is reached under the intensification scenario. Although substitution effects are not accounted for under the land-based (LULUCF) sector in the greenhouse gas inventory, the emission reductions in the industry and energy sectors have beneficial effects on the national carbon balance. Modeling results show that the 2030 LULUCF greenhouse gas removal target set by EU legislation for Hungary is reached under the intensification scenario. To achieve this outcome, widespread innovation is needed in the wood sector. The modeling results show that nonutilization of forests can only be a very short-term solution; however, its favorable effects will be reversed by 2050 resulting in additional emissions compared to the BAU scenario.

The Impact of Natural Disturbances on the Central European Timber Market—An Analytical Study

Central European countries are strategic wood exporters in the European and international wood trade. In the context of wood exporters, Czechia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, and Austria are the important countries providing the development and stability of the forestry and wood sector. The share of these countries’ exports in total EU exports represents more than 52% of the volume of wood exported over 5 years. After the Netherlands, the five mentioned countries recorded the highest increase in roundwood production of all EU and EFTA countries in the years 2000–2022 (from 46% (AT)–126% (CZ)), and the European average is 26%. The last decade has been characterised by a significant destabilisation of the Central European timber market as a result of natural disturbances linked to climate change, which also threatens the long-term competitiveness and preservation of this sector in the economic systems of national economies. The article provides an analytical insight into the historical development of natural calamities and their macroeconomic consequences in Central European countries. The data forecast an unfavourable development of the timber market in Europe caused by the ongoing calamity situation, the pricing policy of the timber trade, the oversaturation of the market with lower-quality calamity timber, insufficient processing capacities for primary processing of wood and its use in secondary processing, and, last but not least, the limited stock of timber in the coming years in selected Central European countries (due to an extreme increase in harvesting plans within the last 5 years, with consequences that will be felt in the coming decade). For the continued economic function of forests and the availability of wood supply for future generations, the current evolution of calamities in forest ecosystems is critical, and long-term strategic measures based on empirical data are necessary. The information presented in this paper can serve as a tool for the objectification of strategic decisions in the development of forestry policies in selected countries.

Consumer Perceptions toward the Use of Reclaimed Wood in Secondary Wood Products

Abstract Reclaimed wood is a repurposed building material salvaged from old or abandoned buildings that offers a sustainable approach to using wood in communities. Although there have been some studies on reclaimed wood, there has been a limited amount linking reclaimed wood to consumerism. In August 2021, an online survey was conducted to gauge adult consumers’ knowledge of the wood products industry and their attitudes on reclaimed wood practices. Adult consumers are defined as individuals residing in the United States who are 18 years of age or older. Study results indicate that many respondents have little to no knowledge of reclaimed wood. Of the 1,516 respondents, only 44% have any knowledge of reclaimed wood. Most respondents are not aware that reclaimed wood is a separate sector in the industry. Caucasian men were the most knowledgeable of all respondents. Respondents believe that reclaimed wood is environmentally friendly, durable, and aesthetically pleasing and that there should be better marketing practices for reclaimed wood. Respondents’ top three reasons for purchasing reclaimed wood was to promote sustainability, for the aesthetics, and because there was a need. Respondents also acknowledge the importance of knowing where their wood products come from and believe that the reclaimed wood sector is very important.

Determinants of the Behavior of Households in Ouagadougou Regarding the Choice of Cooking Energy

The Burkinabe energy context is characterized by a predominance of the use of biomass energies, the country's dependence on fossil fuels, low and inequitable access to modern energies and very low valorization of endogenous renewable energies. Households use these different types of energy for cooking, heating food and heating water. The choice of these energies depends on several criteria. The analysis of the characteristics which can influence this choice is based on the discrete choice model resulting from the hypothesis of utility maximization behavior of the economic agent. This analysis reveals that certain household characteristics including household size, high income and the level of education of the head of household have an effect on energy choice although it is weak. The environmental criterion has no effect on the choice of households and the observation is that the choice of households is mainly based on their desire for comfort. The environmental reason is rarely mentioned. Given the weakness of the vegetation cover in the country, it would be appropriate to intensify the supervision of the wood sector, to strengthen the actions already undertaken (reduction of wood consumption, promotion of energy alternatives, safeguarding and restoration of forests) and the capacities of the actors and finally placed great emphasis on the need to provide quality education to raise popular awareness of environmental issues.

Review: Inadequate Post-Harvest Processing in PNG Forest and Wood Sectors

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is blessed with a wide range of natural resources, including forestry and lumber. However, unfortunately, the nation is losing out on millions of jobs and billions of dollars in income by exporting these resources in their unprocessed form instead of taking advantage of downstream processing. PNG has the world’s third-largest rainforest, covering 33.6 million hectares and comprising 72.5% of the country’s total land area. It is imperative that the government of PNG makes the most of this valuable natural resource. The raw logging market was once profitable, but it has been in decline since China became PNG’s primary export market in 2009. To find a new source of income, the Forest Revenue Review Team (FRRT) evaluated several processing options, including the construction of large-scale plants for exporting veneer, plywood, and medium-density fiberboard (MDF), sawmills of different sizes, and a small sawmill integrated with a joinery facility. However, implementing these solutions presents various challenges, including the high-cost structure of the PNG economy and the need for national forestry legislation and policy enforcement. To ensure sustainable development and address these obstacles, it is crucial to maximize the value of PNG’s forest resources and economy by encouraging downstream processing of forestry and wood. PNG can achieve economic growth and environmental protection by promoting equitable and sustainable development, monitoring international market trends, and resolving specific issues regarding downstream processing. Despite the challenges, PNG is taking steps to advance value addition and sustainable methods in the forestry industry.

Comparing the former EUTR and upcoming EUDR: Some implications for private sector and authorities

The EU recently adopted the regulation on deforestation-free supply chains (EUDR) to reduce its influence on global deforestation and forest degradation. The EUDR prohibits certain forest risk commodities and products made thereof on the EU market unless they are deforestation-free and legal under the legislation of the producer countries. The EUDR will replace the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) which only covers the illegality of timber products. The EUDR concept adopts the basic approach of the EUTR, but aims to overcome weaknesses that left loopholes for non-compliant enterprises.Focusing on impacts related to enterprises in the wood sector and control authorities in the EU, we compare the specifications of both regulations, to examine whether and how weaknesses of the EUTR have been addressed by its successor regulation. It can be concluded that the EUDR closes some important loopholes that existed before, notably by introducing mandatory digital registration combined with control options for customs authorities; by increasing liability obligations for EU domestic trade; and by reducing the leeway for EU member states in the design of national legislation and enforcement. However, the EUDR creates considerable additional burdens for enterprises and control authorities through significantly expanded reporting requirements, combined with an enormous extension of the scope of application. It remains open how strongly the EUDR will affect the procurement costs of EU enterprises and subsequently their product prices – and to what extent this may trigger trade shifts in favor of less regulated countries.

Assessing the Role of Forest Certification and Macroeconomic Indicators on Croatian Wood Exports to the EU: A Panel Data Approach

In the wood industry, forest certification stands as a pivotal factor that supports the implementation of sustainability and market acceptance. Recognizing its significance for both the wood sector and exports, this study explores the impact of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certificates on the export of Croatian wood to European Union (EU) countries. Through a dynamic panel data analysis using the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator, our aim is to uncover the implications of this certification on wood industry exports. Additionally, the model assesses other determinants of wood exports, such as GDP, GDP per capita, remoteness, manufacturing value added, unemployment, and the real effective exchange rate. The results indicate that the number of FSC certificates during the observed period (2000–2021) have a positive and significant impact on wood exports from Croatia, suggesting that wood certification plays a predominant role in shaping such exports. Furthermore, the econometric analysis confirms the statistical significance of selected macroeconomic indicators, including nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP per capita, unemployment, added value of manufacturing and real effective exchange rate, on wood exports. This study emphasizes the importance of forest certification in promoting wood exports and improving market competitiveness, offering a unique contribution to the literature by considering a range of macroeconomic factors in the analysis.

The impact of forest management certification on exports in the wood sector: Evidence from French firm-level data

Forest certification, originally introduced to promote sustainable forest management and protect forests from threats such as deforestation, has become a large-scale market tool. There is no consensus in the literature on the impact of forest certification on exports. Few studies have analyzed the impact of forest management certification on exports, and none have analyzed this effect at the firm level, taking into account firm heterogeneity. The current paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the impact of the difference in the level of forest management certification between an exporting country and importing or destination countries. In particular, we determine how this impact differs by firm size. Our study focuses on the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We use a panel of exports of wood and wood products at the level of French firms. We find that when the level of forest management certification in the exporting country increases relative to that of the importing countries, exports increase; but this occurs to a lesser extent as firm size increases. This result is robust to the various additional analyses. For example, an increase in the difference in the share of PEFC-certified forests by 0.15 is associated with a 90% increase in the value of exports. We also find heterogeneity by product category, geographic area, and income level of destination countries. Our study highlights the role played by forest certification on exports and the need to develop forest certification in a market-driven manner.

Foamed phenol formaldehyde (PF) with naturel foaming agent and characterization adhesive properties

In this study, the phenol formaldehyde resin volume was increased (foamed) using naturalfoaming agents. Increasing production costs force manufacturers to produce using fewer raw materials. Inrecent years, in the wood sector, studies have been carried out on glue efficiency by foaming the glue. Inthis study, egg white (EW), sodium bicarbonate (SB), cattle gelatin (GL), wheat starch (WS) and wheatflour (WF) were used as foaming agent. 5-10 % foaming agent was added to the PF and foamed by mixingat 3000 rpm with a mechanical mixer. Foamed PF has been used to bond black pine wood (BP). Internalbond (IB), density, water absorption (WA) and jell time analyses were performed to characterize foamedPF. The foamed sample made with EW was determined to be the best by the study's findings. In terms ofincreasing IB strength, the foaming process with GL has also been successful. Other foaming agents havealso been successful in the foaming process, but their IB strength has been reduced. In this regard, it isadvantageous to use EW and GL agents for foaming PF glue. More research should be done on this topicto determine how different foaming agents, in different proportions, affect the efficiency of glues. Gluesavings can thus be realized in industries that use glue.

Recent progress of biomass in conventional wood adhesives: a review

Combining biomass with conventional petroleum-based adhesives to prepare wood adhesives with low cost, low formaldehyde, and good performance.

Thermo-physical properties and microstructural behaviour of biochar-incorporated cementitious material

Biochar made from sawdust (1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt%) can be integrated into cementitious materials to reduce environmental pollutants and landfill waste. Biochar feedstocks were chosen from biomass wastes from the wood sector (sawdust) collected in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. The biochar was prepared using a slow pyrolysis method at 500 °C. FESEM, XRD, TGA, and isothermal calorimetry, were used to study the effects of biochar on hydration products. The water density, porosity, water absorption, and compressive strength of biochar were investigated after replacing it with cement paste. In addition, cement paste samples were tested for their thermal properties. It was found that biochar contributed to the improvement of cementitious compounds (hydration products). After 28 days, the compressive strength of the concrete was enhanced by replacing 1 wt%, 3 wt%, and 5 wt% with biochar due to enhanced pozzolanic reactions. Thermal conductivity, specific heat, and thermal diffusivity improved with increasing biochar dosage. In addition, water absorption decreased with increasing biochar doses in the cement matrix. As compared to the three different replacements, the 3 wt% replacement performed better than the 1 wt% and 3 wt% replacements.

Weathering’s effect on color and roughness in some heat-treated wood species with modified water-based varnish

Heat treatment in wood materials and the use of water-based varnishes (WBV) in furniture made from heat-treated wood materials come to the fore in terms of supporting environmentally friendly production in the wood sector. In this study, the total color changes (ΔΕ*) and surface roughness (SR) were investigated after heat-treated tree species were exposed to natural and accelerated weathering with and without varnish. In this context, test samples were first divided into two groups. Surface treatment was applied to the samples in the first group by applying modified WBV (A1) and normal WBV (A2), and the second group was left unvarnished. Then, one group of the varnished samples was subjected to natural weathering (NAT) for 90 days and the other group was subjected to accelerated weathering (QUV) for 720 h with VAS samples, and then the ΔΕ* and SR values of the samples were calculated. The results revealed that ΔΕ* was the lowest in the QUV WBV group, and NAT was more effective than QUV in ΔΕ*. The highest SR values among all groups were measured in the VAS group, and among the varnished samples, there was no statistical difference between A1 and A2 in SR values, except for Rq.

Alternative feedstock for the production of activated carbon with ZnCl2: Forestry residue biomass and waste wood

In order to substitute fossil resources in activated carbon (AC) production, recent efforts have focused on the utilization of renewable raw materials. Regions with important wood industries offer two potentially underestimated resource types: forestry residue biomass (FRB) and waste wood (WW). Although these materials are widely available (approx. 130mio. m3a-1 FRB, approx. 50mio. ta-1 WW in the EU), they are mostly valorised through energy production, as they are high in ashes and may be contaminated with organics and heavy metals. In this study, both FRB and WW were treated via one-step pyrolysis for AC production. ZnCl2 was applied as activating agent at pyrolysis temperatures varying from 400 to 600 °C and residence times between 1 and 3 h. Overall, 76 samples were prepared and characterized thoroughly via elemental analysis, N2/CO2 ad/-desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The produced carbons showed specific surface areas of up to 1430m2g−1 and a pore size distribution with a micropore share of up to 80 %. The presence of oxygen-containing functional groups was confirmed via FTIR. Potential feedstock contamination can be mitigated, as minerals and heavy metals could be leached out (up to –99.15 %) by an additional wash step and organic contamination undergoes thermal cracking during pyrolysis. The presented study could be a next step in upcycling considerable waste streams from the wood sector through localised and non-fossil-based AC production.

A Simulation-Based Framework for Manufacturing Design and Resilience Assessment: A Case Study in the Wood Sector

The advent of modern digital technologies offers new opportunities to improve the performance of manufacturing systems from design to monitoring and control during operation. At the same time, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of all global supply chains and manufacturing systems. In this paper, a simulation-based framework, exploiting the benefits of the digital model concept, is proposed. It aims at: (1) supporting manufacturing design to effectively start a new business, (2) assessing the resilience of a manufacturing system in the face of disruptions, (3) evaluating the goodness of possible strategies to deal with COVID-like crises. The validity of the proposed framework is successfully demonstrated through a real-life case study, referring to the wood sector. The results show that a lack of system preparedness can lead to productivity reductions of up to 31.8%. At the same time, having the ability to react to unexpected events can limit damage and increase productivity by 26% compared to not reacting.