Products and Markets 39
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24 PRODUCTSSPECIAL AND FEATURESMARKETS %BAMBOO construction material, called cement- Bamboo keyboards manufactured in bonded board or CBB, is made from locally China available agroforest waste materials. Jiangqiao Bamboo and Wood hail from Eusebio said two bamboo species – China’s Jiangxi Province, where bamboo kauayan tinik (Bambusa blumeana) and resources are plentiful. Although the bayog (Bambusa merrillianus), which company began as a flooring company, it is thrive all over the country – were selected now diversifying its production to include in making the boards. the latest in green design: bamboo The other material, cornstalk, also keyboards. abounds in the countryside and has no use In recent years, bamboo has gained in most farms in Cagayan and the Ilocos popularity as a sturdy, sustainable Provinces, including La Union. alternative to wood flooring. Currently, Eusebio said CBBs have shown good China produces 200 000 m3 of bamboo properties and met required standards in Bamboo bicycles: a growing industry plywood annually. laboratory tests. He said they based the Riding your bike to work is becoming even Jiangqiao, which began manufacturing standards on a previously developed wood more environmentally friendly with the the green keyboards last October, has wool cement board (WWCB) made of growth of the bamboo bike industry. already received orders for 40 000 finished yemane (Gmelina arborea). Londoners who can afford the £3 000 price units and is China’s sole producer of these “CBBs are generally known for their tag can now buy an organic, biodegradable keyboards. The company says the product resistance to fire, water damage, fungal and bike made from bamboo. Calfee Design, is as strong as its plastic equivalent. Proof termite attack. They also provide excellent one manufacturer of bamboo bikes, is that bamboo’s strength surpasses what its sound and thermal insulation,” Eusebio using bamboo harvested in the remote flexibility suggests lies in the fact that said. CBBs passed tests on such properties mountains of Yushan National Park, Taiwan modern Hong Kong developers prefer as static bending, nail head pull-through, Province of China. The bamboo is shipped bamboo over steel reinforcing rods when thickness swelling and water absorption, he to the United States of America where it is constructing some of the world’s tallest added. He said these boards are commonly smoked and heat-treated to prevent skyscrapers. used as exterior panels, interior partition splitting. The pieces are then assembled Jiangqiao faced the same difficulties walls and ceilings, and in cabinets. with lugs made from hemp fibre and sent to that are typical when adapting bamboo for Eusebio said he and a building product the United Kingdom for sale. industrial use: keeping the bamboo manufacturer in Bay, Laguna have already Bamboo bikes are cropping up in the keyboard frame from cracking, preventing produced 24 2 x 8 ft (0.6 x 2.4 m) boards, United States of America as well, and you the bamboo bottom plate from distorting which are more than enough to use for a can even take part in the construction of and firmly fastening the buttons with the housing unit in Tandang Sora, Quezon City to your ecofriendly transportation. Bamboo main board. However, the company has test the serviceability of CBBs. Bike Studio, based in New York, is offering successfully developed (and patented) its FPRDI is mandated to conduct basic and two-day bamboo bike-building courses. formula, and also developed a bamboo applied research and development to For US$1 000, you get all the raw materials mouse and USB expected to go on the improve the utility and value of wood and and instructions to build your own bike, market this spring. non-wood products. (Source: The Philippine custom-fit for your body and riding style Although Jiangqiao is not the first Star [Philippines], 7 May 2009.) and made with a local, renewable resource – company to use natural resources in all while supporting a good cause. That computer accessories, it may be the most Are ecoconscious consumers being cause is the Bamboo Bike Project, which ecofriendly. Much of the bamboo used in bamboozled? seeks to build a sustainable, ecofriendly the keyboards is leftover scrap from Because of its many benefits, bamboo has bike industry in Ghana – to create a bamboo floorboard manufacturing, says been touted as an environmental miracle sustainable form of transportation for poor the company’s general manager. crop. It is a significant carbon sink, grows Africans in rural areas. Combining efficiency with aesthetically quickly, is more termite-resistant than Here are a few additional reasons why pleasing design, Jiangqiao is earning a timber, and can be used for everything bamboo bikes are growing in popularity: name for itself in innovation and from food to clothing material to • bamboo absorbs five times as much sustainability. (Source: Sustainablog.com scaffolding for building construction. But greenhouse gas as a “conventional” [United States of America], 7 May 2009.) are environmentalists being bamboozled? tree plantation; Despite its benefits, increased bamboo • it does not undergo fatigue like metal; Bamboo, cornstalk used in cement- production may also give rise to a number • it is stronger than mild steel and more bonded boards in the Philippines of concerns. elastic than carbon fibre; and Manila. The Forest Products Research and Perhaps the most pressing concern • it is the fastest growing plant: some Development Institute (FPRDI) of the about bamboo arises from the fact that it species can grow 1.5 m per day. Department of Science and Technology has cannot be sustainably grown on a large If the cost does not turn you away, a developed a low-cost construction material scale in North America and Europe, bamboo bike could soften your ride to work from bamboo and cornstalk. Dr Dwight meaning it has to be imported from abroad. and your impact on the planet. (Sources: Eusebio, head of FPRDI’s Composite Currently, 80 percent of the world's various.) Products Section, said the alternative bamboo production comes from China. NON-WOOD NEWS No. 19 July 2009 SPECIALPRODUCTS FEATURES AND MARKETS 25 There is also concern that increased demand for bamboo could encourage farmers to bolster their use of pesticides to USE OF NEEM (AZADIRACHTA development of preservatives prepared boost yield, which would readily INDICA A. JUSS.) SEED OIL TO from natural products since synthetic accumulate as runoff in the moist regions PROTECT BAMBOO preservatives possess environmental where bamboo grows best. polluting properties. Azadirachta indica, There is also increased distress that Bamboo, a woody perennial plant commonly known as neem, which is a bamboo is environmentally inappropriate belonging to the family Poaceae, plays native of the Indian subcontinent, is as a raw material for textiles and clothing a dominant role as a woody raw known for its marked medicinal, fabrics. Because of its rugged fibres, material for a variety of products. insecticidal, pesticidal and fungicidal bamboo must be cooked in strong There are about 75 genera and activity. Previous studies carried out at chemical solvents and turned into a viscose 1 250 species of bamboo in the world, the Forest Research Institute have also solution before it can be reconstructed into of which 30 genera and 136 species suggested that samples of non-durable proper weaving material. occur in India; the total forest area wood species treated with neem seed Furthermore, while expanding bamboo covered by bamboo is 9.57 million ha. oil performed excellently when production worldwide could help to prevent India is considered to be the second subjected to wood-decaying fungi and deforestation and timber usage at home, largest producer of bamboo, where termites. there are concerns that it could prompt annual production may reach up to A study was therefore carried out to farmers in the developing world to clear 4.6 million tonnes. screen the potential of neem seed oil their native forests. Because of its remarkable growth for bamboo protection. The oil was The good news is that many of these rate and versatile properties, bamboo impregnated at different concentration concerns are outweighed by the immense has been exploited for various levels into various species of bamboo benefits that bamboo production brings. industrial and architectural uses. It has by the Boucherie process. Treated and Agricultural efficiency is easily its largest wide application in the manufacturing untreated samples of bamboo, benefit. Since bamboos are the fastest of pulp and paper, as a constructional converted into a sample size of 1 ft growing woody plants in the world, the material and for the preparation of (30.5 cm), were installed in a test yard crop can be replenished quickly. handicraft articles. and observations were made at regular Furthermore, bamboo is self-regenerating, However, low natural durability and intervals on a visual basis. After which means that after the stalk has been biodegradation by fungi, termites and 12 months, it was noted that samples cut, it rapidly regrows from the remaining borers are significant problems in treated with 10, 15 and 20 percent of rootstock. As long as bamboo is grown in bamboo. Decaying fungi seriously neem seed oil were in a sound and its native habitat, its impact on local affect the pulp yield, resulting in a loss normal condition as compared with the ecosystems is minimal compared with the of up to 25 percent per year. In control untreated samples that were destructive foresting practices of timber addition, the loss of fibrous material moderately attacked by termites and production. caused by fungal, borer or termite fungi. Although concerns about bamboo as a attack increases chipping losses and Further study is therefore required textile and clothing fabric are warranted, reduces digester capacity. to explore and exploit the potential of bamboo is a remarkably suitable The service life of bamboo can be neem seed oil for bamboo and wood replacement for timber as a building increased by treatment with protection so that it can replace material.