New Cement That can Absorb CO2

British engineers seem to have hit upon a new cement that can be a blessing to global warming by absorbing CO2.

According to a report in the Guardian, Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based Novacem, made the invention.

Tick Borne Diseases More Likely To Be The Outcome Of Global Warming
According to a professor at the University of Marseille School of Medicine in France, the spread of tick-borne diseases in humans is more likely to become common as an outcome of Global warming.

The new environment friendly formulation means the cement industry could change from being a significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2, said Vlasopoulos.

Making the 2 billion tonnes of cement used globally every year pumps out 5 percent of the world's CO2 emissions, which is more than the entire aviation industry.

In fact, the long-term trends are upwards. A recent report by the French bank Credit Agricole estimated that, by 2020, demand for cement will increase by 50 percent compared to today.

Experts Congregate for UN Climate Summit in Bangkok
The world's leading climate experts and state representatives from 150 nations gathered in Bangkok Monday for a five-day meet.

Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from two sources: it requires intense heat, and so a lot of energy to heat up the ovens that cook the raw material, such as limestone. That then releases further CO2 as it burns.

But, until now, no one has found a large-scale way to tackle this fundamental problem.

Scientists Dumb Down AP's Global Warming Report As "irrational Hysteria"
A group of scientists have vehemently criticized a recent Associated Press (AP) report on global warming, calling it irrational hysteria, horrifically bad and incredibly biased.

Novacem's cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative.

According to Novacem, its product can absorb, over its lifecycle, around 0.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement.

Protecting Environment Must Be Individual Obsession: PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday made a strong pitch to his fellow citizens to protect the environment and preserve wildlife, especially endangered species.

Novacem's cement, which has a patent pending on it, uses magnesium silicates that emit no CO2 when hearted. Its production process also runs at much lower temperatures, at around 650 degrees Celsius.

This leads to total CO2 emissions of up to 0.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cement produced.

It has been estimated that the new cement has a vast potential market.

Set up by Vlasopoulos and his colleagues at Imperial College London, Novacem has already attracted the attention of major construction companies such as Rio Tinto Minerals, WSP Group and Laing O'Rourke, and investors including the Carbon Trust.

The company has just started a 1.5 million pounds project funded by the government-backed Technology Strategy Board to build a pilot plant.

If all goes well, Vlasopoulos expects to have Novacem products on the market within five years.

Source-ANI
SAV

New Cement That Absorb CO2 in the Environment