Forestry

PROBLEM:
•Very little automation is done in the collection of wood with most of this occurring in sawmills. Several hurdles exist due to the reliance on conventional methods of forestry:
•Due to the reliance of growing crops on flattened land and forestry being done on hilltops automating the collection of wood is difficult
•Some forests are ideal as mono cultures particular in temperate regions
•Calculating the amount of trees in a forest is labour intensive,require dozens if not hundreds of people weeks to do this.This also uses alot of energy
•Wood may be a renewable resource but alot of wood waste is produced each year especially on construction sites.
•Cutting down trees and manufacturing it into paper and cardboard is energy intensive and uses toxic chemicals in both production recycling
•Hardwoods are found only in the tropics and the demand for them is threatening the world’s rain forests. •Transporting them worldwide is energy intensive and could eventually lead to the extinction of hardwoods alongside animal species.
•Deforestation is a serious global problem

SOLUTION:
•Hydroponics,aeroponics,vertical farms and locally grown food can allow for level fields currently used for agriculture to be reforested and use for forestry.This not only allows for the collection of wood for use in construction easier to automate but those for carbon sequesterion techniques such as bio char to be done entirely by machine.Technologies exist that allow this process to be done by hand for personal use.
•Growing alternatives to conventional wood such as hemp, bamboo and mango hydroponically and in agroforestry can give variety, save energy and allow them to be harvested easily,locally in mixed farms.Transgenics can be applied to make specific species to be grown in non-native climates and regions.
•New software such as Silviaterra can allow this to be done in hours by one or two people allowing for a global inventory of the worlds forests to be achieved.
•Bacteria based wood can recycle waste wood,save even energy and has a variety of uses
•Red macro-algae and green micro-algae can produce a more sustainable source of paper and cardboard that requires less energy and no toxic chemicals.E-paper,smart devices and graphene will eventually replace paper
•A process known as kebonization which pressurizes alcohol based industrial wastes into softwoods to give them the texture, physical appearance and strength of hardwoods. This is less energy intensive and in fact last longer than hardwood
•Even though we use more wood today than ever the amount of woodland is increasing in the western world particularly in America with most deforestation occurring in the developing world due to agriculture particularly the beef,soy and palm oil industry.Utilization of algae,in vitro meat,and locally reared livestock can alleviate this problem combating climate change and maintaining biodiversity.Hydroponics/aeroponics and locally produced food can also increase the amount of woodland in the western world