Zur Bedeutung von Zellstoffen als Rohstoffpotential

About 5 x 10¹³ kg of cellulose are yearly biosynthesized in the nature, that is about 40 % of the biologically bonded carbon on the globe. Cellulose is the main constituent of cellulose pulps. Cellulose pulps can be used for the paper manufacture as well as for chemical conversion. Many important products can be produced from cellulose pulps through esterfication, etherfication and degradation. Cellulosexanthogenate, celluloseacelate, cellulosenitrate, methylcellulose, ethylcellulose and carboxymethylcellulose are different chemical products of high technical values. Total degradation of cellulose leads to ethylene via glucose. Ethylene is the starting material for the production of synthetic polymers. Cellulose pulps can be modified by graft polymerisation. The importance of cellulosic materials as a raw material for production of paper and other related products is steadily increasing. In the paper emphasis was laid on the signigicance of by-product utilization as well as of separation of different chemical components of wood during the pulping process in a reactive form. Moreover, the technical relevance of developping new pulping processes with law pollution is stressed. The use of tropical and subtropical wood species in the future as a raw material for cellulose pulp may be of vital importance