In the last decade, interest in the development of wood modification systems has increased in Europe. Alongside several industrial initiatives for heat treatments, there have also been scaling up and pilot plant projects for chemical wood modification. Between 2000 and 2003, the European Commission funded the "Thematic Network on Wood Modification". This paper will feature the modification processes available and indicate their route to commercialisation to date. One of the key decisions of the Network was that modified wood should be regarded as a new wood species, and tested accordingly, with particular emphasis on biological durability and dimensional stability. Suggested ways to test and analyze modified wood are presented, along with some of the key findings of the Network.

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