The climate change consensus extends beyond climate scientists

[aerohead]

On page 24,of the September,2018,Motor Trend Magazine,Frank Markus offered up the article:'Wood-Be Weight Savior,The next big light/strong material grows on trees.'
*Liangbing Hu et al.,of the University of Michigan,have developed 'densified wood',which quadruples tensile strength,makes it tougher,10X stiffer,30X less scratch-resistant,and can accept a class-A painted finish,a product which is stronger than steel,aluminum,and titanium/aluminum/vanadium alloy,and weather resistant.
*Wood is processed in a chemical-double-boil,and hot-pressed.
*It's 1/6th the weight of steel.
*It's cheaper than carbon fiber,although not as fast in cycle time.
*It has some geometrical limitations.
*It can be used for both structures and exterior panels.
*It can be bolted,riveted,or bonded.
*Infused with methyl methacrylate,it produces 'transparent' wood,which is stronger and a better insulator than glass.
*It can also become paper,photonic paper (battery applications).
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The implications are interesting,considering the energy and carbon footprint associated with glass and metals prospecting,extraction,processing,transportation,s melting,manufacturing,and fabrication.
*Mighty Earth reports that in 2018,the US steel industry used 24,500-GW/h of electricity.
(Ghosts of the DeHavilland Mosquito and Marcos GT)

[freebeard]

The implications are interesting....

I'd mentioned it before but it was in a different thread in 201802:

Originally Posted by myself

I forgot one. The big competitor might turn out to be densified wood.https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-s-super-wood/

Quote:
Now, Hu and his colleagues say they have come up with a better way to densify wood, which they report in the February 7 Nature. Their simple, two-step process starts with boiling wood in a solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3), a chemical treatment similar to the first step in creating the wood pulp used to make paper. This partially removes lignin and hemicellulose (natural polymers that help stiffen a plant’s cell walls)—but it largely leaves the wood’s cellulose (another natural polymer) intact, Hu says.

The second step is almost as simple as the first: Compressing the treated wood until its cell walls collapse, then maintaining that compression as it is gently heated. The pressure and heat encourage the formation of chemical bonds between large numbers of hydrogen atoms and neighboring atoms in adjacent nanofibers of cellulose, greatly strengthening the material.

The results are impressive. The team’s compressed wood is three times as dense as the untreated substance, Hu says, adding that its resistance to being ripped apart is increased more than 10-fold. It also can become about 50 times more resistant to compression and almost 20 times as stiff. The densified wood is also substantially harder, more scratch-resistant and more impact-resistant. It can be molded into almost any shape. Perhaps most importantly, the densified wood is also moisture-resistant: In lab tests, compressed samples exposed to extreme humidity for more than five days swelled less than 10 percent—and in subsequent tests, Hu says, a simple coat of paint eliminated that swelling entirely.

A five-layer, plywoodlike sandwich of densified wood stopped simulated bullets fired into the material—a result Hu and his colleagues suggest could lead to low-cost armor. The material does not protect quite as well as a Kevlar sheet of the same thickness—but it only costs about 5 percent as much, he notes.
They then go on to discuss a transparent wood-Lucite composite!

The advantage comes from the mesoscale structure of the lignin. I can see houses made with wood shells, windows and wood/tin battery packs. Hemp carpeting and curtains.

[All Darc]

I had posted about compressed wood be lighter and stronger than steel. Bamboo can also be a alternative, procesing bamboo fibers and compressing it. Bamboo grows muchb mopre faster than any trea

[All Darc]

Tesla's solar roof delay :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABR4KgXoZPE

Well, sounds stupid, since it's way more expensive than traditional solar panels.

If they want to create some solar energy solution that also works as a roof somehow, the only decent economic viable approach would be create solar panels still large, but with some interconnection edges to easily connect one to each other creating some sort of roof. It would be viable just for home projects, for home not yet built, and not to home with already with a roof.
But there would still be a problem : How walk on the roof without broke the panels ?

[oil pan 4]

If it's going to cost more than $1 per watt there isn't much point.

[redpoint5]

I'd say if it isn't going to last at least 30 years and cost no more than about 3x an asphalt shingle roof, there's no point.

The primary purpose would be to keep out the elements. Generating electricity is secondary to that goal.

Finally, high output is not necessary if the entire roof is going to be a solar collector. The north side will hardly make any electricity anyhow.

[NeilBlanchard]

The Tesla solar shingles may not be for everyone. But, they happen to be pretty good as a roof, in some situations. So, the cost needs to be taken as BOTH a roof and a solar PV system.

Back on topic:

recent study shows that nitrous oxide emissions from thawing Alaskan permafrost are about twelve times higher than previously assumed

[freebeard]

If I were putting a roof on anything, the non-solar glass roofing tiles would be a strong contender.

For solar, it would be amorphous thin film on a standing seam metal roof. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=solar+on+s...&t=ffsb&ia=web

[All Darc]

Here a affordable solar roof :




OOPS... Edited : It's not solar cells, but each one dark square are solar panels, so it's a roof with hundred solar panels ans not some solar panels creating a roof by itself like I imagined.

Look this videos :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNT5QxBkyiY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNKFVXK5_4

[freebeard]

Great news everyone!

Buckminster Fuller: The Man Who Saw The Future | Random Thursday
35,876 views
Joe Scott
Published on Apr 25, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrVcDxSpwGM

Notice it comes from the future (unless you're in Australia [?] at the time of posting). What an inspiring story, it even covers when he contemplated suicide.

Joe Scott didn't know much about him until he needed a subject and he listened to an audiobook. I've got 6 or 8 books Synergetics I and II, the patents, etc..

Thanks, Joe.