Hard act to follow
“强硬”行动
Sep 3rd 2009
From The Economist print edition

Environment: Making softwoods more durable could reduce the demand for unsustainably logged tropical hardwoods

环境：让软木更加耐用能够减少对不可再生的热带硬木的砍伐

Kebony ASAKebony’s product is furfuryl
Kebony ASAKebony公司的产品是糠醇


ONE of the reasons tropical forests are being cut down so rapidly is demand for the hardwoods, such as teak, that grow there. Hardwoods, as their name suggests, tend to be denser and more durable than softwoods. But unsustainable logging of hardwoods destroys not only forests but also local creatures and the future prospects of the people who lived there.

热带丛林被迅速砍伐的一个原因是对像柚木那样生长在那里的硬木的需求。如名所示，硬木和软木相比密度更大，也更加耐用。但对不可
再生的硬木资源的砍伐不仅破坏了森林和当地的生物，同时也在毁灭着生存在那里的人类的未来。

It would be better to use softwood, which grows in cooler climes in sustainably managed forests. Softwoods are fast-growing coniferous species that account for 80% of the world’s timber. But the stuff is not durable enough to be used outdoors without being treated with toxic preservatives to protect it against fungi and insect pests. These chemicals eventually wash out into streams and rivers, and the wood must be retreated. Moreover, at the end of its life, wood that has been treated with preservatives in this way needs to be disposed of carefully.

使用软木资源将会是更好的选择，这些软木生长在气候较凉爽且可持续管理的森林里。软木是指速生的针叶林品种，占世界木材产量的80%。但如果这些木材不经有毒的防腐处理以防止霉变或虫害将不足以在户外使用。这些化学物质最终会被冲入小溪和河流，而且木材还要重新做处理。近一步讲，使用这种方式进行防腐处理的木材在使用寿命将尽的时候必须被小心处理。

One way out of this problem would be an environmentally friendly way of making softwood harder and more durable—something that a Norwegian company called Kebony has now achieved. It opened its first factory in January.

解决这一问题的一种方法就是采用环保的方式使软木更硬，更耐用，现在挪威一家称作Kebony的公司在这方面已经有所成就并且今年一月份开办了它的第一家工厂。

Kebony stops wood from rotting by placing it in a vat containing a substance called furfuryl alcohol, which is made from the waste left over when sugarcane is processed. The vat is then pressurised, forcing the liquid into the wood. Next the wood is dried and heated to 110ºC. The heat transforms the liquid into a resin, which makes the cell walls of the wood thicker and stronger.

Kebony公司首先把木材放入盛有一种被称作糠醇的物质的容器中以防止其腐烂，这种糠醇由甘蔗加工产生的废料生产而成。接着容器被加压，把液体压入木材。接着，木材被晾干并被加热到110摄氏度。高温使液体转化为树脂，使木材的细胞壁更厚更坚固。

The approach is similar to that of a firm based in the Netherlands called Titan Wood. Timber swells when it is damp and shrinks when it is dry because it contains groups of atoms called hydroxyl groups, which absorb and release water. Titan Wood has developed a technique for converting hydroxyl groups into acetyl groups (a different combination of atoms) by first drying the wood in a kiln and then treating it with a chemical called acetic anhydride. The result is a wood that retains its shape in the presence of water, and is no longer recognised as wood by grubs that would otherwise attack it. It is thus extremely durable.

该方法和另外一家位于荷兰称作Titan木材的公司所采取的方法类似。由于木材所含的羟基原子团能够吸收释放水分，因此木材有湿涨干缩的特性。Titan木材公司已经发展一种技术能够把羟基原子团转化为乙酰原子团（一种不同的原子组合）。这种技术首先在干燥炉中使木材干燥，接着用一种被称作醋酸酐的物质进行处理。其结果是木材在保持水分的情况下形状不变。而且也不被咬食它的蛴螬认作木材。这种方法使木材及其耐用。

The products made by both companies are completely recyclable, environmentally friendly and create woods that are actually harder than most tropical hardwoods. The strengthened softwoods can be used in everything from window frames to spas to garden furniture. Treated maple is also being adopted for decking on yachts. The cost is similar to that of teak, but the maple is more durable and easier to keep clean.

这两家公司生产的产品可完全回收利用，非常环保，并且创造了比大多数热带硬木都更加坚硬的木材。这种经过强化的木材能够被应用到从窗框，温泉浴场，到花园家具的所有领域。经过处理的枫木也被用作游艇的甲板，而其价格和柚木类似，但枫木更加耐用且更易清洁。

Obviously treating wood makes it more expensive. But because it does not need to receive further treatments—a shed made from treated wood would not need regular applications of creosote, for example—it should prove economical over its lifetime. Kebony reckons that its pine cladding, for example, would cost a third less than conventionally treated pine cladding over the course of 40 years. Saving money, then, need not be at the expense of helping save the planet.

显然，处理木材使其价格更加昂贵。但由于它不需要进行进一步处理—比如说由处理过的木材制成的平房将不再需要进行定期的杂酚油浸(渍)处理，因此，在其生命周期内将被证明更加经济。Kebony公司估计，以松木护墙板为例，在其40年的使用周期里，其费用只有传统处理方式的三分之一。那么，节省费用不需要以牺牲帮助拯救我们的星球作为代价。