How much steel does a person need to have a “first world” standard of living? Most people in the developed world never think of this question. They just get up from their beds held together with steel screws and bolts, stand on their floors which are held up with steel … [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]
In my recent article celebrating the great month that pumped hydro had, between the Loch Ness Red John facility selling to Statkraft, the UK finally settling on cap and floor for the technology and China having 365 GW of power and 4 to 8 TWh of energy storage under construction, … [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]
It’s not often that a novel energy storage solution crosses my screen. It’s vastly rarer that it doesn’t immediately fail a few basic sniff tests. A solution that pumps water under high pressure a few hundred to a thousand meters underground doesn’t immediately fall apart in technical terms or claims. … [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]
Every domain brings with it a wealth of new language. Being the domain junky that I am, my head is creaking at the seams with jargon and technical terms from a multitude of places. Cement and concrete are no different. Today’s exploration is of the interesting world of supplementary cementitious … [continued]
