Under the auspices of the India Smart Grid Forum, the think tank founded as an umbrella organization over India’s 28 state utilities to provide thought leadership, share leading practices, and bring international insights to India, I’m delivering bi-weekly webinars framed by the Short List of Climate Actions That Will Work. With the … [continued]
Cement is the gray glue that holds our economy together. It’s ubiquitous, if often hidden behind paint or plaster. It holds together the rock, sand, and steel that keep our buildings upright, our bridges spanning chasms, and our dams holding water for irrigation, generation, and recreation. And it’s a carbon … [continued]
When people think of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), it is often solar, wind, and other clean energy generation technologies that come to mind. However, Ana Aday, a materials science researcher in NREL’s Building Technologies and Science Center, is taking on a whole new challenge: decarbonizing the cement and … [continued]
As concrete month draws nearer to a close, it’s time to look at an option not previously explored, continuing to use limestone but bolting on carbon capture and paying for waste disposal in permanent sequestration sites. After fifteen years of assessing carbon capture technologies, pilots and proposals, this is one … [continued]
During what has become concrete month, I’ve explored the full range of actual and purported solutions to the climate problem that is the cement, steel, and concrete used in construction. The industry’s emissions are high, with every ton of reinforced concrete having a carbon debt of 0.3-0.4 tons of carbon … [continued]
Reinforced concrete was invented in the mid-19th century, a game-changer in the construction world. French gardener Joseph Monier is often credited with its creation. While experimenting with materials to build stronger garden pots and tubs, he had the idea to combine concrete with iron mesh in 1849. Monier patented his … [continued]
As cement day turns into concrete week turns into concrete month, it’s worth considering how the absurd tonnages of concrete manufactured changes, often radically, depending on where specifically in the world the concrete is needed. That’s all because those absurd tonnages means that we move the stuff that goes into … [continued]
One of the many people who have suggested I look at something in the space of cement and concrete decarbonization suggested red mud. All I knew was that it had something to do with aluminum, and hence I thought it would be another metal slag supplement to cement. You know … [continued]
A few days ago I went deep on cement again, using an assessment of the processes of American clean cement startups to define the scope and magnitude of the problem, the chemistry and energy requirements of cement, why fixing it is critically important, and incidentally evaluate a couple of companies’ … [continued]
During concrete day… errr … week … errr … verging on two weeks this time, I’ve explored a lot of carbon emissions solutions for the full value chain of the gray glue that ensures our buildings don’t collapse, our bridges stay up, and our underground working chambers don’t pancake. We … [continued]
