[thedoc (OP)]

Could we use bamboo in order to make housing across the world more environmentally friendly?
Read a transcript of the interview by clicking here
or [chapter podcast=1000679 track=14.04.29/Naked_Scientists_Show_14.04.29_1002238.mp3] Listen to it now[/chapter] or [download as MP3]

[evan_au]

On a visit to Thailand, I saw the local Boy Scouts in action. Their craft seemed to be "101 things to do with Bamboo".

I also saw houses built with bamboo, bridges repaired with bamboo and painters working on bamboo scaffolding.

I was told that bamboo exposed to the weather needs to be replaced about every 2 years. The warm, wet climate seems to encourage the growth of fungi and bacteria that break down the bamboo - and there must be a large reservoir of such microorganisms in the environment, feasting on the forests of bamboo that grow in the area.

Processed structural bamboo used in temperate climates could be coated to protect it from the weather, and the environmental conditions would not be so hostile.