Date: 2009-04-30
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Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries, and Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin today officially opened the new $1.3 million Timber Composites Research Facility at Salisbury. As part of the opening ceremony the minister turned on a unique piece of equipment which is a Queensland first.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries, and Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin today officially opened the new $1.3 million Timber Composites Research Facility at Salisbury.
As part of the opening ceremony the minister turned on a unique piece of equipment which is a Queensland first.
Mr Mulherin said: “Our facility contains the only Spindle Less Veneer Lathe in Queensland.
“It’s a specialised machine capable of ‘peeling’ layers away from logs until they’re down to the size of a broomstick. That means more usable product and very little wastage.
“The timber veneers which come out of the machine, some just 2mm thick, are then glued together to make composite timber products – which are greener, more cost-effective building materials.
“What makes this machine so attractive is that it can handle small logs – and that has the potential to provide hardwood plantations with another source of revenue.
“When hardwood plantations are established the common practice is to plant a lot of trees and then years later remove the smaller trees – giving the bigger trees more room to grow.
“These thinnings, as they’re called, are typically used as pulp which provides little return.
“But by using this new lathe the smaller trees, or ‘thinnings’, can potentially be turned into composite timber products which have much more value.
“Our team will investigate this potential in what is a very important project for the timber industry,” Mr Mulherin said.
Minister Mulherin said the research facility supports the Queensland Government’s goal of phasing out logging from state-owned native forests within 20 years and replacing log supplies for the timber industry with plantation-sourced logs.
“While the private plantation industry is reluctant to commit to the 20-25 year crop cycles required for plantation saw-log production, composites from early plantation thinnings can help encourage investment in plantations.
“It’s difficult to justify the high cost of establishing, thinning, pruning and managing a plantation for high-quality timber production when income will not be available for decades.
“It is essential that potential investors can factor in appreciable returns from the necessary periodic thinning operations into their financial models,” Mr Mulherin said.
QPIF senior research scientist Rob McGavin said there were many benefits to using timber composite products, but high on the list was environmental considerations.
“While using timber composites helps preserve native forests, it also replaces materials such as aluminium, steel, brick and concrete, which use more energy in their production releasing large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere,” Mr McGavin said.
“By contrast, plantation timber locks up carbon for many years; buildings effectively acting as carbon sinks.”
Mr Mulherin said: “Other timber research being done by Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries includes research into turning cocowood (coconut palm trunks) into high-value flooring, bench tops, kitchen cabinets and furniture.
“And we are researching the use of a super-heated steam vacuum kiln – which reduces the time it takes to dry timber by as much as 50%.
“We are conducting vacuum-drying trials for four commercial Australian hardwood species to develop suitable drying schedules and confirm the economic value,” he said.
For more information on QPIF’s innovative timber and forestry science research, visit www.dpi.qld.gov.au or call the Business Information Centre on 13 25 23.
Media: Matt Watson 3239 3120