
Cement that absorbs greenhouse gases instead of emitting them - Hooke
https://qz.com/1123875/the-material-that-built-the-modern-world-is-also-destroying-it-heres-a-fix/
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EADGBE
_Solidia 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.

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vonmoltke
> 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.

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snowwindwaves
In 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.

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ChoGGi
Back 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).

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hannob
I 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.

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zitterbewegung
For 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.

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rubatuga
Why 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_...](http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio3/2000projects/carroll_d_walker_e/whatwentwrong.html)

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makomk
This is explained in the article: the process of producing cement releases
more CO2 than is subsequently absorbed when it cures.

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antoniuschan99
Anyone hear about Hempcrete? Concrete made of Hemp that also traps Co2?

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andrewwharton
It'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.

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agumonkey
stupid question, why not growing trees above cement factories ?

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kerbalspacepro
Trees can only story a certain amount of CO2, and factories will produce much
more than the trees can absorb.

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agumonkey
Then 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.

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MBlume
This 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.

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cjensen
Why not both?

