Digital BW, The Print

Opinions differ per source.

Right now the main paper pulp source is wood and it will be
for a long time in the future. China has been a champion of
alternative fiber sources so far as it has little forest
areal (relative) but wood based paper use is now growing
faster than the alternatives. Forests are planted in China
but more rainforest in S.E. Asia is plundered. Not a word
about bamboo that comes to the rescue.

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/36313/story.htm

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Voracious_China_Gobbles_Up_Forests_Recycled_Paper_999.html

Hemp is by many considered as the better environmental
alternative.

http://mojo.calyx.com/~olsen/HEMP/IHA/jiha6107.html

What the hemp industry thinks of bamboo:

http://www.globalhemp.com/Archives/Magazines/bamboo_paper_not_friendly.html

But hemp is planted on soil that can grow soy, corn and we
know that corn can be food but also energy for your car
(with a negative energy balance but who cares). So you may
write your president again, his voters grow that crop, the
Mexicans will eat less tortillas anyway.

Probably a more balanced view on several pulp sources and
the energy needed to refine:

http://www.tappsa.co.za/archive2/APPW_2004/Title2004/The_refining_of_non-wood/the_refining_of_non-wood.html

Remarkable energy balance per ton pulp between fiber sources.

Then there is the biomass and usable fiber produced per acre
which isn't significantly different either.

An interesting study on hemp and some references to kenaf as
a source. Minnesota orientated. The environmental aspects of
growing kenaf and hemp versus growing forests. At the end of
the article. A forest is probably taking the least energy
and no fertilizer, is possible on locations that will be
unproductive in other ways and at most 5x in the lifecycle
of a forest humans will enter it for production related
activities. Not a boreal, rain, natural forest but with more 
recreational value than 10 acres of hemp.

http://www.freenetwork.org/resources/documents/hemp.pdf

Right now only 10-12% of world's paper is from non-wood
sources and that includes straw, sugar cane for lower
qualities and high end alpha cellulose + rag.  3% is Bamboo.
Demand is high for any source so this isn't a world to
replace one with the other but just another source added.
With all the pros and cons. The day 90% of wood pulp is
replaced by Bamboo pulp is far away or will never happen.

The US citizin has 3x the average of paper use per head in
world. The US recycles little compared to other countries
but exports a lot of waste paper for recycling. So counting
virgin paper use it ends even higher.

Inkjet paper as used by the list members already is from
more alternative sources than the big printing industry
uses. The water based inks make recycling also easier than
possible with waste paper from the big industry. The high
quality inkjet paper fiber will go through many recycling
loops before it ends as a carton box to deliver Chinese
inkjet printers to the west. If it ever gets recycled since
most hope their prints will end on the wall for the next 5
years or stay in archives forever. One could compute the
environmental footprint of an Ansel Adams print in Gates
archives and that of a photography magazine that one day
will end as the fibers in a Chinese carton box. Which one
has been of more use to the world population.

And if you really want to save on paper there's E-paper.
Like with all digital evolutions the old paper is declared
dead after its real introduction. Don't think so.

-- 
Met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst


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