Engineers are constantly coming up with new ways to dispose of greenhouse gases. The latest idea is to hide carbon dioxide exhaust in cement. The method could revolutionize one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the world.Concrete analysis in a Düsseldorf laboratory: "Lots of things can be tested in an aquarium." Vinod Khosla has a lot of money, and he wants to put it to good use, which explains his Silicon Valley nickname, "Angel Investor." The 53-year-old Indian has already invested $450 million (€290 million) of his personal fortune in new technologies to save mankind and the planet. A little more than a year ago, Khosla received an e-mail. What it contained, in its 12 lines of text, was exactly the sort of thing this immensely wealthy philanthropist likes to read. "I have an idea for a sustainable cement," Brent Constantz, a chemistry professor, wrote. His idea was to convert the carbon dioxide emissions from a power plant into cement, thereby rendering the gas harmless.
Engineers are constantly coming up with new ways to dispose of greenhouse gases. The latest idea is to hide carbon dioxide exhaust in cement. The method could revolutionize one of the most carbon-intensive industries in the world.
Concrete analysis in a Düsseldorf laboratory: "Lots of things can be tested in an aquarium." Vinod Khosla has a lot of money, and he wants to put it to good use, which explains his Silicon Valley nickname, "Angel Investor." The 53-year-old Indian has already invested $450 million (€290 million) of his personal fortune in new technologies to save mankind and the planet.
A little more than a year ago, Khosla received an e-mail. What it contained, in its 12 lines of text, was exactly the sort of thing this immensely wealthy philanthropist likes to read.
"I have an idea for a sustainable cement," Brent Constantz, a chemistry professor, wrote. His idea was to convert the carbon dioxide emissions from a power plant into cement, thereby rendering the gas harmless.
The concrete industry produces more than two billion tons of cement worldwide each year. In doing so, it releases 5 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted worldwide, making it the third-largest single producer of the greenhouse gas. The industry's large carbon footprint is a result of energy-intensive production processes, which include temperatures of 1450 degrees Celsius (2642 degrees Fahrenheit) to bake the raw materials and the use of electric motors to pulverize the resulting cement bricks.
How much energy for a brick - always a question of which I wanted to hunt down the answer...
Sounds like the proposed method has potential, tweaking with the speed up a natural process. I wonder if dissolved magnesium/calcium in the water will not become a limiting factor at some point, though.
