The potential for using pretreatment with cinnamon leaf oil or juniper foliage oil to improve the durability of viscoelastic thermal compression (VTC)-treated hybrid poplar was explored in a field termite test and a laboratory mold test. The addition of oils prior to VTC processing had variable effects on resistance to both mold and termite attack. Subsequent gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy assessment of residual oil components in VTC processed material suggested that the heating associated with the process was associated with substantial degradation of oil components that might help explain the lack of protective effect. The results suggest that further attempts to use essential oils to improve the durability of VTC processed materials must first explore less aggressive heating conditions to reduce the potential for thermal degradation of oil components while still achieving the attractive gains in physical properties associated with the process.
Full-cost accounting techniques incorporate the environmental and societal burdens a product generates through its manufacture, use, and disposal into that product’s price. This research generates full-cost prices for functionally equivalent chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood and galvanized steel guardrail posts by combining previously conducted life cycle inventory analyses results with secondary emission valuation data. Based on the analysis, both CCA-treated posts and galvanized steel posts have environmental damage costs associated with emissions generated through the product’s manufacturing, use, and disposal stages. After developing full-cost prices for product alternatives, CCA-treated wood guardrail posts were found to be a more economical and environmentally responsible alternative to galvanized steel. In addition to generating full-cost prices, this research uses Monte Carlo simulation to provide estimates of variability around CCA-treated wood and galvanized steel damage costs.
In an effort to identify opportunities for regional economic development for western North Carolina, this study investigated the economic impacts generated by collocating a 10,500-ton/yr wood pellet mill alongside a 10-million board foot hardwood sawmill in the Asheville–Brevard combined metropolitan statistical area. Using the analysis-by-parts methodology within the input–output analysis framework, a custom production function was built to describe a small-scale pellet manufacturing facility operating alongside a hardwood sawmill. The additional economic effects generated by a pellet mill collocation are described, along with upper and lower bounds that represent potential variability in the estimates caused by raw material price fluctuation. Last, the impacts generated by the collocated mills are compared with a similar increase in demand distributed among all forest products manufacturing sectors existing within the study area. The study found that wood product firms existing within the region had the opportunity to utilize excess woody biomass for pellet production and could diversify their product lines, create additional jobs, and stimulate value-added economic activity for the region.
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