‘It’s almost carbon-negative’: how hemp became a surprise building material
Edward Helmoretheguardian.com
‘It’s almost carbon-negative’: how hemp became a surprise building material
the Bellcomb47 system of cardboard-like honeycombs sandwiched between sheets of cheap strandwood (pressed like chipboard, but using tough fibrous strands of wood). The sandwiches are prefabricated in many precisely cut shapes that fit tightly together like a child’s miniature house kit—only this kit can be full-sized. Two unskilled adults could ass
... See morePaul Hawken • Natural Capitalism
Bamboo in various diameters could also serve the purpose quite well, and since it’s one of the toughest natural materials we know of,
Dickson Despommier • The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century
could enable the world’s supply of lumber and pulp to be grown in an area about the size of Iowa. Weeds can yield potent pharmaceuticals; cellulose-based plastics have been shown to be strong, reusable, and compostable; and luxurious carpets can be made from landfilled scrap. Roofs and windows, even roads, can do double duty as solar-electric colle
... See morePaul Hawken • Natural Capitalism
can match the fiber production of 600,000 acres of cotton.
Paul Hawken • Natural Capitalism
carbon storage is a “blunt” and “dumb” approach to curbing climate change. “You’re basically just landfilling,” he says, not decoupling the economy from the production of heat-trapping gases. But with it, he adds, “you buy the time to use the scalpel to do all the cool stuff,”