Transcending European Wood to dramatically decrease the CO2 footprint of the construction industry

Introduction

Environmentally friendly and nature-based materials in the construction/building sector are now inevitable. The use of wood will skyrocket in the next years. However, a significant share of wood comes from South America, Africa, and Asia. The EU imports the equivalent of 84 football fields of exotic wood daily, contributing to deforestation and its adverse consequences, such as GHG emissions and biodiversity loss.

Challenges with Exotic Woods

Indeed, the resistance qualities of exotic woods are far superior to those of EU woods. They are used for decking, cladding, and window profiles - a market of several million m³ of wood per year that is currently inaccessible to EU woods, which are poorly resistant and are sold at low prices for carpentry or as firewood.

Project Overview

LIFE-WOODTECH will offer a ground-breaking solution to improve the performance of EU forests. The project aims to develop a new technology combining well-known processes: acetylation and supercritical CO2. The project was born in CEA’s labs, where researchers have developed a molecular modification process making acetylated fir and spruce wood samples as resistant as the best exotic woods, with a much better environmental and economic balance.

Technology Details

The patented technology combines several reactive chemistry processes to transform the molecular structure of the wood. It becomes rot-proof, stable, and durable, surpassing the best exotic woods.

Economic Impact

The EU forestry sector will capture a high added value commercial outlet for its products, stimulating the industrialization of the sector and restoring Europe's sovereignty in the wood trade. As a result, LIFE-WOODTECH's carbon footprint impact is massive.

Project Timeline and Outcomes

Indeed, after 3 initial years for the full demonstration and validation of the technology (enabling the acetylation of commercially-fit 4-meter lumbers), LIFE-WOODTECH will trigger, by project-end (year 8), a total of 75,000 m³ of Woodtech-wood.

Expected Benefits

This will generate:

1. GHG savings of 42,975 TnCO2eq/year (50% less GHG emitted compared to exotic woods)
2. Over 100 direct jobs
3. Approximately 600 indirect jobs