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Cement that absorbs greenhouse gases instead of emitting them
- EADGBE 9y agoSolidia insists that their cement can be used for all sorts of concrete application. I was less convinced, because much of concrete use requires pouring and curing on site. Ensuring such uses are covered in chambers full of carbon dioxide seems difficult. Was interesting until I saw this. Good for decorative concrete, though. Around here all the applications of poured concrete are for foundations, basement slabs & walls, as well as commercial building applications.
- vonmoltke 9y ago> Was interesting until I saw this. > Good for decorative concrete, though. It goes far beyond decorative concrete. This process can be used for concrete blocks, roof tiles, drainage pipes and boxes, prestressed slabs, and virtually any other product that is manufactured off-site. For the record, I don't think I have ever seen a basement where the walls were solid pour. It's a waste of concrete when hollow block with poured columns is sufficient.
- snowwindwaves 9y agoIn Ottawa, Ontario, Canada all of the basements I went in were solid pours. I only saw cement blocks as a foundation for cabins with no basement. In coastal BC most places don't seem to have a basement at all.
- ChoGGi 9y agoBack in Ontario I did see the basement of a private school extended with blocks (filled with rebar and concrete). Twice actually as the first time they back-filled it; the wall partially caved in from lack of rebar (I was renovating an apartment across the street, and talked with the site super on occasion).
- EADGBE 9y agoIn tornado alley, poured concrete is a life-saver. it's also extremely time efficient. 5,000 sq/ft homes' foundations can be fully assembled in a day. It's unusual for you, but you're also not the target market. I see it mostly advantageous for full-height/walk-out/live-in basements, though.
- hannob 9y agoI looked at that development quite closely (for an article for a German online magazine) a couple of years ago. There were a number of companies trying things like this. Recently I was asked to write an updated article and I checked what happened to all those companies. Most of them went nowhere. Unfortunately. It seems to be a very hard problem to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete.
- zitterbewegung 9y agoFor concrete their first priority is for it to work. So are they going to take a bet with a new formula if it will cost them tons of money to fix? If your new formula messes up then you probably double the carbon impact in the first place.
- MBlume 9y agoThis seems like a distraction. We don't need green cement, we need laws that allow us to shape cement into tall buildings so people can live near where they work.
- cjensen 9y agoWhy not both?
- antoniuschan99 9y agoAnyone hear about Hempcrete? Concrete made of Hemp that also traps Co2?
- agumonkey 9y agoI've heard about it many times (looking for hemp history) but I forgot. So thanks
- andrewwharton 9y agoIt's not comparable to concrete though as it has completely different physical properties (ie. much lighter and weaker). It's more rigid insulation made with natural fiber and a lime based binder to hold it together.
- agumonkey 9y agostupid question, why not growing trees above cement factories ?
- kerbalspacepro 9y agoTrees can only story a certain amount of CO2, and factories will produce much more than the trees can absorb.
- agumonkey 9y agoThen pass it through pools of liquid an algae I don't know... I'm sure we could transform a large chunk of emissions into useful byproduct if people tried.
- rubatuga 9y agoWhy not normal concrete that already takes in CO2 from the environment? A interesting read about what went wrong in the Biosphere atmosphere: http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2000projects/carroll_d_walker_e/whatwentwrong.html http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2000projects/carroll_d_...
- makomk 9y agoThis is explained in the article: the process of producing cement releases more CO2 than is subsequently absorbed when it cures.