Industrial Revolution 2

Cement and carbon emissions | Concrete proposals needed | The Economist:
“Concrete proposals needed

Dec 19th 2007

The construction industry confronts its carbon footprint

FANS of cement like to point out that it is the most widely used substance on the planet after water. Unfortunately it is also one of the most polluting. The main ingredient in concrete, cement is made by heating limestone and clay until they fuse into a material called clinker, which is then ground up and mixed with various additives. Both the heating, which is normally fuelled by coal, and the chemical reaction it induces release large amounts of carbon dioxide, and so contribute to global warming. By the industry’s own admission, cement-making accounts for some 5% of the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases—twice the amount attributed to aviation.”
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Technorati Tags:
Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Economy

Cement Industry Is at Center of Climate Change Debate – New York Times:

“Cement plants account for 5 percent of global emissions of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming. Cement has no viable recycling potential; each new road, each new building needs new cement.

Now, green incentives may be increasing pollution. The European Union subsidizes Western companies that buy outmoded cement plants in poor countries and refit them with green technology. But the greenest technologies can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by only about 20 percent.

So when Western companies revamp Eastern factories, the emissions decrease for each ton of concrete produced. But the amount of cement produced often goes way up, as does the total pollution generated.”

(Via Cement Industry Is at Center of Climate Change Debate – New York Times.)

Technorati Tags:
Climate Change, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Economy, Greenhouse Gases