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Biotechnology in the wood industry

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Abstract

Wood is a natural, biodegradable and renewable raw material, used in construction and as a feedstock in the paper and wood product industries and in fuel production. Traditionally, biotechnology found little attention in the wood product industries, apart from in paper manufacture. Now, due to growing environmental concern and increasing scientific knowledge, legal restrictions to conventional processes have altered the situation. Biotechnological approaches in the area of wood protection aim at enhancing the treatability of wood with preservatives and replacing chemicals with biological control agents. The substitution of conventional chemical glues in the manufacturing of board materials is achieved through the application of fungal cultures and isolated fungal enzymes. Moreover, biotechnology plays an important role in the waste remediation of preservative-treated waste wood.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P.D. Evans and A. Wagenführ for providing information and helpful discussion. The laboratory of U.K. is financially supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU). The authors are members of the Niedersächsisches Kompetenznetz für Nachhaltige Holznutzung (NHN; the Lower Saxony competence network for sustainable wood utilisation). NHN is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE project 2001.085) and by the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony.

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  1. Institute of Wood Biology and Technology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    C. Mai & H. Militz

  2. Molecular Wood Biotechnology Section, Institute for Forest Botany, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    U. Kües

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Mai, C., Kües, U. & Militz, H. Biotechnology in the wood industry. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 63, 477–494 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-003-1411-7

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