Team:Bordeaux/Human Practices

Loading...

☰ Menu

• HOME
• TEAM & FRIENDS
  • Team Members
  • Collaborations
  • Crowdfunding
• PROJECT
  • Description
  • Design
  • Experiments
  • Notebook
  • Results
  • Attributions
• PARTS
• SAFETY
• HUMAN PRACTICES
  • Human Practices
  • Education & Engagement
• AWARDS
  • Applied Design
  • Measurement
  • Model
• JUDGING FORM

✕

Human Practices

The Landes forest shows a unique specificity related to several facts. Indeed, this forest stands for the largest european forest. Despite its poor ground, it shelters a particular species of tree, able to colonize a challenging environment, called maritime pine (Pinus pinaster). It might be a true asset in the context of current climate changes. Besides its adaptability, the Landes forest also shows a strong resilience against natural disasters.

In order to ensure a sustained production of wood and a sustainable system, local players continuously think of directions concerning the cultivation of maritime pine and its transformation.

As our project aims to use coproducts of wood transformation, it was important for us to go out and meet those players so they can help us to better understand the needs and the socio-economic issues of the Landes forest.

1. The forest-based sector of the Landes Forest
2. Dialogue with Régis Pommier, a passionate man
3. Meeting with the competitiveness cluster Xylofutur

The forest-based sector of the Landes Forest

Nowadays, the Landes forest is a major element of identity in our region Nouvelle Aquitaine. It stands as the most productive forest in France with 26% of the national wood production. The local forest production and transformation industry are the main source of income and they allow the sustainability of the forest. Therefore, the future of the Landes forest can not be separated from wood economy.

The maritime pine, the king of the Landes forest

The maritime pine is not the only type of wood harvested in the region Nouvelle Aquitaine. We can find other species such as oaks, chestnut trees and poplar among deciduous trees or spruce and douglas firs among conifers. Here are few data illustrating how important the maritime pine is in our region in 2018.

Nouvelle Aquitaine : Mémento régional
la filière forêt bois - 2018, Agreste

Organisation of the forest-based sector in our Region Nouvelle Aquitaine

Once it is harvested, the wood of the maritime pine will be used through three different forms : lumber, industrial wood and energy wood. One of the first steps in the lumber industry consist in sawing. This step has the particularity to generate a very low yield of transformed wood over the initial raw material. Indeed, this step generates up to 50% of by-products that have to be recovered through other types of transformation such as panel, pulp and wood chemistry. In 2008, the FIBA (“Fédération de l’Industrie des Bois d’Aquitaine”, a federation of wood industry of the former region Aquitaine recently renamed “Nouvelle Aquitaine”) stated during a committee on the 5th of June that the yield of the sawing step was then about 45%.

The forest-based sector in Nouvelle Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine : Mémento régional - la filière forêt bois - 2018, Agreste)

Dialogue with Régis Pommier, a passionate man

Régis Pommier

“Ingénieurie Mécanique et Conception IMC” department, Institute of mechanics and engineering I2M in Bordeaux

Thanks to our project “Far waste in the Landes Forest”, we were lucky to meet Régis Pommier from the I2M institute (Institute of mechanics and engineering, in Bordeaux). Régis Pommier is a really passionate man concerning the Landes forest and more generally concerning wood. He currently works on the recovery of wood through collage techniques and wood drying. During our meeting, Regis Pommier enlightened the sector’s challenges in the Landes forest.

The Landes forest, a real industry

During the exploitation of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) in the Landes forest, every piece of wood is utilized. A real industry was built on this exploitation where every wood component is used for specific purposes. Therefore, there are no “waste” strictly speaking in the Landes forest.

Different applications depending on the life-stage of the tree

The maritime pine is harvested all along its growth. Thinnings are led on young trees from 10 to 20 years-old. The resulting wood will be transformed into pulpwood and firewood. Pulpwood is used by the paper industry where it is converted into cellulose pulp. We can also manufacture particle boards from this pulpwood. The remaining wood is used as firewood to produce energy.

A 30 years-old tree is considered as an adult or mature tree. Its trunk base can be then utilized for “higher purpose” to produce furnitures and constructions. The wood of the higher trunk is considered as less qualitative as it contains more nodes. Therefore, it is more likely transformed to produce wooden pallets. The high branches are converted again into pulpwood and firewood.

A wood quality depending on soil

Unlike deciduous trees (trees with broad leaves), the wood of resinous trees is more qualitative and compact through a slow growth. Therefore, the quality of the wood decrease when the fertility of the soil increase. Pines that are harvested on fertile soils are usually quickly cut down in order to be transformed into wooden pallets and pulpwood.

The sawing step, a low yield step

The wood collected from the harvest of maritime pine is then routed to sawing workshops in order to produce wooden planks. This step generates a very low yield with a great quantity of by-products (more than 30% of the raw material). These by-products are currently recovered as pulpwood or firewood.

A future for the recovery of by-products

Although there is a real and optimized industry in the Landes forest, it is actually important to boost innovation in this field in order to enhance the recovery of generated by-products. One of the major issues would be to achieve to handle a huge quantity of pulpwood in a high potential recovery process.

Meeting with the competitiveness cluster Xylofutur

What is the competitiveness cluster of Xylofutur ?

Xylofutur was created by the competitiveness national policy started in France in 2004. This policy aims to gather all keys to competitiveness that are innovation, development and employment. It allows the growth of research and development collaboration between projects that aims innovation.

Xylofutur brings together companies, research laboratories and training institutes, that works on Forest-Wood sector from all over France.

Xylofutur is composed of three strategic activity domains :

• “Forest” domain focused on the management of cultivated forests. The aim is to increase wood and biomass production and gathering, and the competitiveness of forestry systems and wood supply.
• “Wood” domain dedicated to solid wood products. This domain target the the use and transformation of wood as a material in some business like : buildings, furnishing and packaging.
• “Paper chemistry” domain about green chemistry products. It focuses on the development of biosourced fibers, raw material or even energy. Business corresponding to this domain are biofuels, composite materials or packaging.

Xylofutur general meeting :

This meeting was on Monday, 24th of September, three members from iGEM Bordeaux have attended this meeting mostly about Low-Carbon theme( David Mauboules, Sandro Papaïs and Margueritte Batsale). Speakers have first talked about the Low-Carbon axis in many differents perspectives. In particular, they addressed political aspect and the stake of biosourced chemistry in the Low-Carbon strategy as its establishment in the building business.

Meeting with the Wood Chemistry project leader, Marina Lopez-Guia :

Thursday, 27th of September, we had the opportunity to meet the Wood Chemistry project leader of Xylofutur, Marina Lopez-Guia. We talked with her about the procedures to build up a project.