New tropical wood substitute could save rainforests worldwide
Jeremy Hancemongabay.com
December 18, 2009
Kebony, a Norwegian company, has developed a process to make softwoods similar to tropical hardwoods without the use of chemicals. The product, also called Kebony, stops softwood from rotting by treating it with a chemical-free process that involves sugarcane waste, pressurizing, and heating. The process makes softwood that is actually harder than tropical hardwoods and resistant to fungi and insects. Since the wood only needs to be treated once, it is cheaper than soft woods over the long run that need to be treated throughout their lifetime, each treatment releasing toxic chemicals into the environment.
Displayed in an art installation showing off eco-solutions to climate change, Kebony was also the recipient of Norway's national environmental prize, the 'Glass Bear'.
"This technology provides a global eco-solution to the major environmental challenge of rain forest deforestation,” said Christian Jebsen, CEO of Kebony, in a press release.
The Kebony process was developed by Marc Schneider at the University of New Brunswick. An industrial scale plant for Kebony opened in Norway in January of this year.
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