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Science

Forestry & biomaterials

Wood as material and as chemical feedstock: construction, fibres, textiles, cellulose and lignin.

44 pages3 sections
Explanatory reference: why a technology works and where the science is unsettled. Drafted with AI assistance; pages carry no per-claim references and have not yet been reviewed by a subject expert — use them for orientation, not as a citable source. The evidence for each technology, with graded sources, is in its dossier. How this reference is made →

The forestry sector starts from one fact: wood is a composite built by the tree for the tree’s own purposes, and all processing is a negotiation with that structure. Three clusters look at the trunk from three sides: construction — how engineers use the anisotropy and the predictable charring; fibres & textiles — how cellulose becomes thread; cellulose & lignin chemistry — how two polymers share one trunk and why they are hard to part.

The recurring motif is moisture: it governs the beam’s mechanics, the film’s barrier properties and paper’s strength, because cellulose’s hydroxyl chemistry holds load and water with the same eagerness. The second motif is recalcitrance: the toll for opening the polymer matrix decides what becomes paper, what becomes fibre, and what stays behind to fuel the process itself.

A sensible entry is timber construction: the mechanics there are derived from physics, not from a code of rules.

Wood & construction

Moisture governs every property of a timber structure; wood's fire behaviour is predictable, and growth biology caps the supply.

9 pages

Fibers & textiles

Performance lives in a structure, not in a material name; biology entered the industry through finishing and cost per kilogram decides its next step; recycling …

25 pages

Cellulose & lignin

Two polymers, one tree: the hydroxyl chemistry that makes cellulose useful is the same chemistry that makes it vulnerable to water.

10 pages