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Back to the future
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-26 13:43
Living in a straw dwelling doesn't necessarily equal to living in a primitive hut. It can be a 21st century eco-friendly modern abode. In an expo showcasing the benefits of straw and stalk housing on May 9-11 in Beijing, a home made completely of wheat straw, attracted many visitors as an advanced and eco-friendly solution to treat hundreds of thousands of tons of the agricultural harvest waste every year. The house was built with a material called oriented straw structure board (OSSB). Straw tubes are split horizontally into pieces at least 4 cm long. Three layers are compressed together with an environmental-friendly adhesive free of formaldehyde. The composition of wheat or rice straw is similar to wood. The abundant cellulose and lignin in straw and stalk can also replace wood materials for panel production, as scientific and technological examinations have proved. Panel Board Holding (PBH), a company headquartered in Hague, Netherlands, produced the house. The company is working with the Alberta Research Council of Edmonton, Canada, to develop agricultural fiber-based technology. Now PBH has brought the technology of making construction and package materials from crop straws to China. The Shaanxi Global Jiahe Panel Board Co Ltd, a joint venture invested by Xi'an Huaheng Technology Industrial Co Ltd and PBH Company of Netherlands, was opened last year. The total investment reached 220 million yuan ($31.71 million). The company is using the 2008 harvest season to start its business in China. It is located in the Hongqing Industrial Park in Baqiao District of Xi'an and an OSSB production line has been designed and built. The annual production capacity of its production line is 60,000 - 80,000 cu m. Estimated roughly, the project can consume 40,000 tons of wheat straw, which supports the local government's efforts to increase the development and utilization of crop straws. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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