[asdswe]

It would make much more sense to build houses out of those logs instead of storing them on big piles. That way you can reduce concrete use in buildings, which itself is a major source of carbon emissions.

Log houses have been a thing for a LONG time in many parts of the world, and other types of wooden building exists as well. It seems like environmentalists have totally forgotten this obvious and superior form of carbon sink.

Here in Finland we're building even large blocks of flats from wooden materials these days. Yet the EU keeps telling us not to utilize our forests as much as we do now...

[the_third_wave]

Same here in Sweden, both the increased use of wood in larger constructions as well as the EU's insistence that Swedish forestry and Swedish hydropower are "not sustainable". That's an odd stance to take to say the least, it is almost as if they're using the word "sustainable" in a way it was not meant to be used.

[danmaz74]

Source about calling your hydropower not sustainable?

[the_third_wave]

https://www.nyteknik.se/energi/eu-forslag-skapar-strid-om-sv...

Run it through a translator if you don't read Swedish.

[cmrdporcupine]

I think we'd need to see the total carbon cost for the proessing of the lumber before we can say whether construction with wood has a net zero or net negative carbon impact.

Harvesting, milling, kiln drying, and transport all seem to me like quite energy intensive operations.

[BurningFrog]

Using wood for construction is good, but it involves a lot of work, and there is a limit to how many houses we need. I imagine producing far more logs.

Not that I've done any math, so I could be wildly wrong.

[asdswe]

It doesn't seem to be too much of work or uneconomical, here in Finland construction firms are already making large apartment buildings at least partially out of wood, smaller ones have been built from wood for thousands of years already. Apparently it can be also faster than concrete building, because you don't have to wait for the concrete to dry.

If this were to become a global trend, I think it could really absorb a lot of carbon while also reducing concrete emissions. Admittedly logistics could increase the costs for many parts of the world that lack forests with suitable wood.

[inglor_cz]

AFAIK the timber needs to be fairly dry as well, so there is a significant time gap between harvesting the timber and starting the construction.

This can be managed as long as the demand curve moves in predictable ways.