Wood and other structural lignocellulose biomaterials are renewable resources that provide sustainable products that require considerably less energy to manufacture into useable products than other alternatives produced from nonrenewable resources. However, these materials are readily biodegradable and as such must be protected if they are to be used in adverse environments. Consequently, their protection through chemical and nonchemical means plays a vital role in the satisfactory utilization of many products. This publication represents the third ACS book by the three co-editors in a series addressing scientific and practical aspects of biodeterioration and protection of lignocellulose materials. The objective of this third book diverges to some extent from the prior texts, in that it provides an overall view of our current understanding of the microbial and thermal degradation of plant biomass along with new developments in the rapidly changing field of wood protection. The latter is particularly important in light of dramatic changes in copper-based wood preservative systems that are used extensively to treat wood for residential construction, and in the commercial development of lignocellulose modification processes that protect bio-based materials without the addition of biocides. These changes, along with an update on new organic wood preservative systems, factors influencing wood biodeterioration above ground and in soil contact, wood treatment processes, registration and approval processes, applications of molecular biology in wood protection research, and the conversion of biomass into high value carbon products and worldwide trends in wood protection, are covered in this latest ACS book. The individual chapters were authored by a world-class group of academic and industrial scientists in order to provide a state-of-the-art review and global perspective of this rapidly changing field and reviewed by internationally recognized scientists.
