Once we use this vast energy resource, our "solar powered generator forest" more effectively, we need less power plants, storage, transport and infrastructure. Our forests are the most energy rich resource available to us and we need to treat and manage nature's gift in a useful and sensible manner.
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The energy used to produce 1 aluminum window could produce 126 Timber / Wood windows.
This comparison can be applied to all types of building materials. Think about flooring (wood or synthetics), insulation (hemp or foam), doors, stairways, furniture and much more. For example, the choice of a wooden window means that only a 126th part of the energy is used compared to an aluminum window. Or the other way around, you could use the same energy which is being used to install one house with aluminum windows to fit 126 houses with wooden windows!
Compare the energy usage to produce windows, doors, floors, building, furniture, etc. They are of manmade substances and turn wood into toxic waste which is not biodegradable when composted or released into the air and waterways.
The example of our middle European countries shows that all building materials and energy required for our daily life could be covered from sources which are harmless to our environment. Every architect and builder could save an incredible amount of energy which is now being wasted. 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.
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 that the air is freshening, solar power generating, wood producing forest is a divine gift? It serves us daily free of charge and without fail. There is not one day where nature doesn't work for us.
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.
Science still is 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 whole/hole in the ozone layer will be of secondary importance.
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).
Greenhouse gases are mainly carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen and FCKW. They prevent the radiation of heat from the earth into space and thus contribute to the rising temperatures on earth. The measured concentration of these gases (apart from FCKW which has only been introduced in the last few decades) has risen constantly since 1800.
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, like the sorcerer's apprentice.
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. 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.
Wood from conifers has more resin and produces more soot. Hardwoods burn hotter: produce more heat and burn longer than softwoods. Always have more than one log on the fire, this gives the flames more surface and creates airflow to keep the fire going. To maintain airflow, empty the ashes regularly.
When lighting a fire, keep the air supply open and flames intense. Dark dense smoke contains gases which were not burned and is an indicator that the combustion is not good enough. Maintain and clean the wood stove and flue once a year because soot does not conduct heat and reduces the efficiency.
A perfectly balanced and closed circuit which is not compromising the CO2 balance sheet of our environment.
Best Practice: To utilize wood best and reduce pollution, use only dry and well-seasoned wood. It should be stacked neatly off the ground, protected from rain, and have dried for at least 6 months. Wood burns best when the moisture content is around 20%. A tree is the largest, self-renewable storage sink of CO2 and sun energy. It is a power plant which produces oxygn and clean air for us humans. When burned correctly, wood releases not one gram more CO2 than it had absorbed from the atmosphere during its growth.
My childhood in the sixties was very much shaped by the endless trust in technology and science. Since then Laboratories constantly develop new molecular structures and materials which have previously not existed on earth.
In Granddad's home you feel comfortable with a sense of warmth and wellbeing. There is no dampness or mold growing; the air is free of formaldehyde and dioxins because no particle board, plastic windows or synthetic carpets/underlay have been used. All of which are very common in most modern buildings.
The stories he tells are rich in experience and have our ears ringing with excitement. Here are some bits I would like to share with you.
Today, 50 years after our granddad built and furnished his home, the energy which is needed to build a home of the same size (depending on the kind of materials) is up to 130 times more. With simple means he built a home for his family with wood which had been locally harvested at the right time. He built everything himself, right down to the windows and chairs. The comfort and soul of this small cottage still enchants us each time we visit 'Urliopa' (granddad) with our children.
Waste - an unknown word
The best teacher I could ever have wished for was our granddad who was a carpenter well into his nineties. When he returned back home after the war with Russia, he had a short recovery period and then went back to his much loved vocation carpentry. ...or the milk and butter which is from our neighbor and is not trucked through several countries. My wife makes our yogurt and even the linen we use for clothing comes from our local hemp farmers.
I realize that this is not necessarily possible for everyone, however, with a little more thought we could do much better with the world's resources. When I look at our winter garden I remember the trees which I selected and where they had grown in our local forest. I remember the Ash, Spruce and Oaks I used for the floors in our home. I also am thinking about the local farmer who fills our Swiss Pine chest with fresh and organic grain, ...
While I am writing this, I remember a high school trip. We made a raft of round tree trunks and for days we traveled down the Danube River through all of Austria. I still carry these impressions and memories within me and I will never forget the landscapes.
Tree trunks are being shipped from Russia to Germany and Austria as well as from central Europe to Japan to be manufactured into particle boards.
Statistics show the increase in exhaust fumes, traffic accidents and land use for more road infrastructure. But does higher mobility really equate to a better quality of life? Restructuring local supply sources means much more than just reducing exhaust fumes. |
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