Forests, Energy & Clean Air II

Building with Holz100 means the possibility of living off the grid

If we keep burning oil, gas or coal, we effectively release stored sun energy, because they too are of plant and organic matter. However, the important difference is the toxic emissions like sulfur and nitrogen molecules which are being released by burning fossil fuels. Additionally, fossil fuels were created in millions of years whereas trees grow in decades or centuries.

If we use energy which has been stored for millions of earth years in a fraction of an earth second, we set something in motion which is out of our control. The ozone hole in our earth's atmosphere, our global climate changes and mass dying of trees are results of speeding up this slow cycle.

Source: Organization of World Meteorology

Greenhouse gases are mainly carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen and CFCs. They prevent the radiation of heat from the earth into space and thus contributes to the rising temperatures on earth. The measured concentration of these gasses (apart from CFCs which has only been introduced in the last few decades) has risen constantly since 1800.

The three most complete global temperature records available - from the UK Hadley Centre, NASA, and the US National Climate Data Centre - all show a clear upward trend in global average temperatures over the last 150 years (calculated using an 11-year running average).

Science is still unable to identify the exact causes and prospects of the anticipated climate changes on earth and this causes endless political and environmental debates. There is no doubt that globally the average temperature has risen since 1880. If we keep wasting oil, gas and coal and continue plundering our planet, the hole in the ozone layer will be of secondary importance.

We can best avoid environmental and climatic damage if we tune into natural energy cycles. We finally need to recognize the options nature presents us in form of renewable resources and learn how to use wood in ways which will allow us to safely recycle it after we have used it as furniture or building timber.

Maybe sit back for a moment and remember the last time you went for a walk through the forest. Can you feel the soft ground under your feet, the cool, fresh, spicy and healthy air? Don't you think the air freshening, solar power generating, wood-producing forest is a divine gift? It serves us daily free of charge and without fall. There is not one day where nature stops to work for the benefit of people and the earth.

We need to fulfill just one important criterion to keep this wonderful system running: treat wood only with natural products, so it can be released back into nature's cycle and decompose. In other words, avoid using chemical treatments, paints and adhesives. They are of manmade substances and turn wood into toxic waste which is not biodegradable when composted or released into the air and waterways.