Friday Offcuts – 13 April 2012
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Our lead story this week sent into us by a UK reader. Final approval has just been given for environmental timber certification right across the new Olympic site in London. It’s a major victory for the timber industry. Why? As reported in the Timber Trades Journal, “it means that every last piece of timber across the whole project, from the smallest section of joinery in the athletes’ village, to the Velodrome’s western red cedar cladding and the joists supporting its Siberian pine track, is sanctioned as certified legal and sustainable. It’s a colossal achievement on such a massive undertaking”.More importantly though, the victory has required the two “superpowers of environmental certification”, FSC and PEFC to work together on the one project – a world first according to one of the key architects of the Games’ timber procurement strategy. It’s also now created a sustainable procurement and supply model for the timber industry to take to other public and private construction projects and could well provide a powerful marketing tool and competitive edge for tendering on future construction projects. We continue this week with the innovation theme. In forest inventory, an Irish company who presented a couple of weeks ago at the IUFRO Precision Forestry conference in Mt Gambier announced they’ve now combined Terrestrial Laser Scanning to pick up stem quality information as well as the Aerial Laser Scanning as part of their forest inventory and planning services. In Germany some researchers have developed a new low cost sandwich-type material using a paper core that they claim offers strength similar to that of steel or aluminium and we’ve included stories on plans to build what’s expected to be the tallest wooden building in North America and the first commercial flight in South America using bio-fuel. Finally, of course in wood innovation we’ve got lined up the very latest developments from around the world that will impact on those involved in wood treatment in Australasia. For those wanting to register for the three yearly independent tech update, Wood Preservation 2012, REMEMBER, the discounted early-bird registrations FINISH TODAY.
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World first Olympic timber procurement success
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has achieved a “world first” for securing FSC and PEFC project certification on the Olympic Park site, with 100% of wood products supplied certified as “legal and sustainable”.The presentation of FSC and PEFC project certification by auditors Soil Association Woodmark on Wednesday is being hailed as a major achievement and a procurement model for other projects to follow. It also breaks new ground in that the project required main certification schemes PEFC and FSC, which have well-documented differences of opinion on forest certification, to work together, bringing hope of the potential of mutual recognition in the future. Soil Association Woodmark said the project was a world first for certification of such a huge and complex site. FSC-certified material made up 67% of the 12,500m³ timber products procured, while PEFC accounted for 33%. More >> 2012 NZ Forest Products industry map now out
The eagerly awaited sixth edition of the NZ Forest Products Industry Map has just rolled off the presses. A complimentary map was included in this month’s issue of NZ Logger and partners to the map have been distributing this new industry resource amongst their key customers. We've fielded numerous enquiries about both the map - and more importantly, how to get hold of one since the issue of NZ Logger was sent out.The industry map is updated and printed every two years by the Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA). The new 2012 map is still the only mapping resource containing updated forest information, wood processing and manufacturing plant locations produced for the New Zealand forestry products industry. Since the release of the last edition, there have been over 50 changes to wood processing and manufacturing operations - changes in ownership, closures, new operations and changing production levels. The names and location of 119 wood processing plants including; all fibreboard, LVL, plywood, veneer, wood pulp, paper and paperboard mills, wood manufacturing operations producing > 5000m3 of finished products and all sawmills – by production level – cutting > 2,500m3 of sawn timber have been incorporated into the new map. The maps are generally sold out each year. They're widely used as an essential reference tool, displayed prominently in offices and used for general promotion of the industry - both in New Zealand and internationally. If wanting to order your own - either folded or laminated - fill out the attached order form. Linking aerial and ground-based laser scanning
Treemetrics, a leading forestry analytics company based in Ireland, announced a first in forestry technology at the AUSTimber 2012 conference in Mt Gambier, the first company in the world, to combine both Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Aerial Laser Scanning (ALS) to be used operationally. The company has now worked in 14 different countries and has more recently being working with Forestry SA.This first to market technology, combines Terrestrial Laser Scanning forestry analytics, developed by Treemetrics, with existing Aerial Laser Scanning technologies. Aerial Laser Scanning data provides information to describe the quantity, and height, of trees in the forest. Combining the Terrestrial Laser Scanning, with the Aerial Laser Scanning, not only provides superior calibration data, but also stem quality data. 3-D stem profiles can automatically be extracted from 3-D images collected in the forest. Use of intelligent data, real-time analytics and a simple-to-use web platform for harvest planning, are at the core of TreeMetrics development. This according to the company is providing significant improvements in efficiency, cost savings and greater value recovery; more than 10% are being provided to forest owners and harvesting companies. Polyurethane composite could replace steel
A consortium of German research groups has created a new sandwich-type material that they claim offers strength similar to that of steel or aluminium, yet is significantly lighter and less expensive.It consists of a honeycomb-structured paper core, with glass fibre-reinforced layers of polyurethane on the outsides. To give an idea of how tough it is, it’s about to be tested on the diesel engine housing of a train. The image attached to this article is the diesel engine housing, made using the new composite material. The material is intended for a number of applications, but it was decided that the engine housing would be a good test. The housing will be located on the underside of the train, where it will be constantly subjected to track debris such as flying rocks. It must also contain engine fluids such as oil, to keep them from leaking into the environment, while additionally serving to contain the flames in the event of an engine fire – additives in the polyurethane ensure that it meets fire safety standards. The experimental housing is reportedly 35% lighter than a standard metal unit, and is approximately 30% cheaper to produce. So far, it has done very well on mechanical stress tests, performed on a laboratory rig. The next step will be to actually install it on a running train, and see how it works in the real world. For full details on the story and link to the study, check out the latest R&D Works Newsletter
Australian Pine Log Price index releasedThe Australian Pine Log Price Index (“the Index”) compiled by KPMG using data provided by Australian softwood growers has just been released. The Index documents changes in pine log prices achieved by large-scale commercial plantation owners selling common grades of plantation softwood logs to domestic processors. Click here for the latest report on the Australian Pine Log Price Index.Lumber exports up in NZ, down in PNW Lumber exports from NZ are up 35% year-on-year as at the end of January. This reflects a decrease in all imports from China and the US. US and Canadian exporters are dominating lumber markets with the weak US dollar.Lumber exports from the Pacific North West are down 35% year-on-year as at the end of January. Increased competition from the US has seen more Canadian lumber head south of the border into the US. Lumber production in the US and Canada increased by only 4% in 2011 from 2010, whereas consumption in the US increased by 4.9% over the same period. Fourth quarter consumption levels increased at a rate of 5.9%. This also is happening at a time when lumber imports into the US are down by 1.9% year-on-year. Log exports made up only 5.6% of forest product exports from British Columbia (Canada) in January 2012, up from 4% a year earlier. The value of the log export was however up 30.9% year-on-year. The US remains the largest market for Canadian forest products at 40.8% of the market value followed by China + Hong Kong combined at 35.2% in the month of January. These figures are up from 39.4% and 31.1% respectively year-on-year. Source: NZX Agrifax, www.nzxagri.com/agrifax Consultation underway on ETS changesThe NZ Government on Wednesday released a consultation document setting out proposed changes to the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme. The announcement follows the first mandatory review of the scheme last year which recommended several refinements, including extending the transitional implementation phase of the scheme and changing aspects of how forestry is treated.The proposed changes include: • A more gradual phase out of the 'transition measures' put in place for business; • The introduction of more explicit powers for the Government to auction New Zealand Units within an overall cap and restrict the use of overseas units in the ETS; • The introduction of offsetting for pre-1990 forest landowners and a review of the level of compensation being provided; and • Subject to a 2014 review, provision for a maximum three-year postponement of the agriculture sector’s inclusion. Consultation on the proposed changes will run until 11 May with a series of nationwide hui/meetings planned on 17-23 April. For further information on the planned meetings, click here. To view the discussion document click here
First S American commercial flight with biofuelLAN Airlines passed a milestone by flying the first-ever South American commercial flight using biofuel, as part of a project started with fuel and forestry conglomerate Copec SA. The global airline industry is committed to address environmental concerns by reducing its carbon emissions 50% by 2050, compared with 2005, and increasing the use of renewable fuels to 1% in 2015 and 5% in 2020, according to data provided by LAN.An Airbus 320 flew almost 170 people, including LAN and Copec executives, industry and government authorities and reporters, between Santiago and the southern city of Concepcion, in a nearly one-hour flight that appeared no different than one using conventional jet fuel. LAN Chief Operations Officer Ignacio Cueto said the flight was "a dream come true" and called on the energy industry to develop renewable fuels. Cueto said that there are no timeframes to start a commercial operation using biofuels, as its costs are not yet competitive. He emphasized however that in the future, LAN is willing to use biofuels in all its flights and although this project was developed along with Copec, the company is open to work with any supplier that offers competitive costs, similar to current fuels used. LAN's direct investment to expand the use of biofuels shouldn't be high. Its new aircraft that are expected go into operation next year are biofuel-ready, Cueto said. The adjustments to the current fleet in order to use biofuel aren't major, a LAN operations executive said during the flight. Source: Dow Jones |
