Entrepreneur Nadir Yildirim is among those convinced that Maine’s troubled forest products industry is merely going through a period of transition, as innovative minds develop new products that will catalyze a resurgence in demand for the state’s most abundant natural resource.
His stake in this next generation of wood-based products is a foam insulation board made from the molecular building blocks of wood called cellulose nanofibers. The boards made by Yildirim’s high-tech startup, Revolution Research Inc., are 100 percent recyclable, unusual among the other foam insulation boards on the market that are typically made from petroleum-based materials.
“I personally believe these (cellulose) nanofibrils will be the raw material of the future,” said Yildirim, who has a Ph.D. in forest resources from the University of Maine. “It will create a significant change for the future of the Maine forests.”
Yildirim is among those who see new, innovative uses that can come from Maine’s 17 million acres of forest. Those innovations include wood-based biofuels, plastics and chemicals, engineered construction materials that rival the strongest steel, and cellulose nanofiber additives from wood that can boost the durability of products ranging from paper to concrete.
Yildirim, whose company has received several grants from scientific and economic development organizations, is speaking at an upcoming conference on the next generation of wood products that he described as an opportunity for innovators and forest industry leaders to share information about the industry’s future potential with each other and the public.
From the Portland Press Herald: https://www.pressherald.com/2016/10/20/conference-explore-next-generation-maine-wood-products/