CO2 Eating Cement
British scientists at Novacem have developed a cement from magnesium silicate which absorbs more carbon dioxide while hardening than is emitted during production. The high heat cooking required for conventional or Portland cement production emits about .8 tons of CO2 for every ton of cement. When mixed with water cement absorbs about half of this amount of CO2. The net production of .4 tons of CO2 per ton of cement produces about 5% of the world’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Novacem’s cement emits only .5 tons of CO2 while the curing process absorbs more than twice this amount, 1.1 tons. Many years of testing remain and much will have to change to use this in more than a few applications. Converting even a small portion of the 2 billion tons of cement production from contributing .4 tons of GHGs to removing .6 tons is a good thing. Technology that turns a major CO2 emissions problem into a substantial abatement process are exactly what is needed to help solve Global Warming.
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