Environmental Concerns - Wood Products

Wood, when sustainably and  responsibly harvested, presents as one of the most environmentally friendly materials. The environmental impact of carbon emissions can be classified within two different categories, anthropogenic and biogenic, wood being the latter.  Biogenic CO2 emitted in the combustion or processing of wood is considered neutral because during growth, trees sequester carbon dioxide and release oxygen. In this way a wooden chair or other product can be considered a carbon storage device, in the sense that the tree from which it was made absorbed carbon while growing, and the products made from the tree retain that carbon throughout their lifespan. Not only is it essentially carbon neutral in that what ever carbon dioxide is released upon its decomposition or incineration as fuel is equivalent to CO2 that was converted to oxygen throughout the life of the tree, but further since it is very rarely farmed in North America, regional the growth of this resource involves no artificial fertilization or water management. In fact it is widely recognized that by selectively and responsibly harvesting larger trees, smaller trees which have a much faster growth rate are allowed to prosper actually increasing the net carbon absorption of a given area of land.  According to the US forestry department, the ratio tree growth to harvesting is approximately 1.6, meaning that currently for every two acres of trees harvested, more than three are added.