Wood Industry

Wood is an organic material produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees and other woody plants. In a living tree it conducts water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling plants to reach large sizes. Wood may also refer to other plant materials and tissues with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, or wood chips or fiber. People have used wood for millennia for many purposes, primarily as a fuel or as a construction material for making houses, tools, weapons, furniture, packaging, artworks, and paper. Wood can be dated by carbon dating and in some species by dendrochronology to make inferences about when a wooden object was created. The year-to-year variation in tree-ring widths and isotopic abundances gives clues to the prevailing climate at that time.

Trees of dicotyledonous species increase in diameter by the formation, between the existing wood and the inner bark, of new woody layers which envelop the entire stem, living branches, and roots. Technically this is known as secondary growth; it is the result of cell division in the vascular cambium, a lateral meristem, and subsequent expansion of the new cells. Where there are clear seasons, growth can occur in a discrete annual or seasonal pattern, leading to growth rings that can be clearly seen on the end of a log. If these seasons are annual these growth rings are referred to as annual rings. Where there is no seasonal difference growth rings are likely to be indistinct or absent.

There is a strong relationship between the properties of wood and the properties of the particular tree that yielded it. For every tree species there is a range of density for the wood it yields. There is a rough correlation between density of a wood and its strength. It is common to classify wood as either softwood or hardwood. The wood from conifers is called softwood, and the wood from dicotyledons (usually broad-leaved trees, e.g. oak) is called hardwood. These names are a bit misleading, as hardwoods are not necessarily hard, and softwoods are not necessarily soft. The well-known balsa (a hardwood) is actually softer than any commercial softwood. Conversely, some softwoods are harder than most hardwoods.

Wood has many applications and is one of the most abundant natural renewable resources found on earth. Due to its renewable nature when paired with sustainable silviculture practices wood has the potential to solve or be used for many problems humanity may face. Future applications of wood include; bioenergy electricity, biodiesel fuel, new lignin glue applications, recyclable food packaging, rubber tire replacement applications, anti bacterial medical agents, and high strength fabrics or composites. As scientist and engineers further learn and develop new techniques to extract various components of woods' structure, new more advanced products will appear on the marketplace.