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Green Cement Absorbs Carbon

Peace Corps Online writes "Concrete accounts for more than 5 percent of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions annually, mostly because cement, the active ingredient in concrete, is made by baking limestone and clay powders under intense heat that is generally produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Now Scientific American reports that British start-up company Novacem has developed a 'carbon-negative' cement that absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits over its life cycle. The trick is to make cement from magnesium silicates rather than calcium carbonate, or limestone, since this material does not emit CO2 in manufacture and absorbs the greenhouse gas as it ages. 'The building and construction industry knows it has got to do radical things to reduce its carbon footprint and cement companies understand there is not a lot they can do without a technology breakthrough,' says Novacem Chairman Stuart Evans. Novacem estimates that for every ton of Portland cement replaced by its product, around three-quarters of a ton of CO2 is saved, turning the cement industry from a big emitter to a big absorber of carbon. Major cement makers have been working hard to reduce CO2 emissions by investing in modern kilns and using as little carbon-heavy fuel as possible, but reductions to date have been limited. Novacem has raised $1.7M to start a pilot plant that should be up and running in northern England in 2011."

9 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can you help me Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    An mal-adjusted, racist asshole?

  2. Re:Can you help me Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Unintelligible.

  3. Re:Strength? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    weight of air, approximately 28 grams per mole
    weight of carbon dioxide, 44 grams per mole
    Being a tard on /., priceless. Also weightless.

  4. Re:Less CO2 = $Green$ by tehSpork · · Score: 4, Funny

    An alarming lack of airborne greenhouse gasses leading to a dangerous trend of global cooling?

  5. Try harder next time. by Capsaicin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Global warming may or may not be happening.

    That's a tautology much like "water may or may not be wet," so by definition it's logically true. "Global warming is happening." That's a statement of scientific fact, it's empirically true.

    ... we don't exactly know what is causing it ...

    We don't know exactly, however it has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that human activity is a major contributor.

    ... and we definitely can't stop it

    Up to that point this was such a beautiful example of agnatology relying on nothing but formally True statements. Why did you have to ruin it? How very disappointing!

    --
    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
  6. Re:Strength? by HeLLFiRe1151 · · Score: 5, Funny

    No need to worry about the availability of Magnesium Silicates, they just found the mother-lode in the South American rain forest.

    --
    I've got 101 mod points and you can't have them!
  7. Re:Less CO2 = $Green$ by Bemopolis · · Score: 3, Funny

    Considering the volume of carbon dioxide emitted by the loud-mouthed opponents to the very concept of global warming, I'll take even a palliative corporate effort to ameliorate the problem. For now.

    --
    "I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
  8. Obligatory Soylent Green paraphrasing by cbraescu1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Green cement is people! Green cement is people!

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    Catalin Braescu
    Ofaly.com
  9. Re:Strength? by hesiod · · Score: 2, Funny

    good analogy!

    What? I saw no mention of any car!