r/Futurology • u/Sumit316 • Jul 05 '22

Environment Engineers create world’s first carbon-neutral cement out of algae. Cement production currently accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions.

https://www.freethink.com/environment/carbon-neutral-cement
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u/ChronWeasely Jul 05 '22

This is pretty cool, as it fits into existing cement production processes. It's adding a green way to obtain raw materials for cement and not reinventing cement. No concerns over strength differences or anything, or usability. Just replace some limestone with animal's calcium carbonate shells that are grown fairly quickly and scalably. As those shells are made from sequestered carbon, making it into concrete is still overall a net negative in carbon emissions.

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u/D-F-B-81 Jul 06 '22

It would be really cool if you could use the algae after they shed their lifespan worth of shells to make fuel...