The production of Portland Cement, the key ingredient in concrete accounts for nearly 5% of the worlds CO2 emissions. Cement is produced by heating limestone to over 1450 degrees Celsius. China, India and the United States produce over 900 million metric tons of cement each year with a total world production approaching 2000 million metric tons. In order to heat the limestone to over 1450 degrees Celsius an enormous amount of fossils fuels are burned which produces the extensive amount of CO2.

Obviously if a new method of producing cement can be found which requires significantly less energy to produce the process would make a significant impact on CO2 emissions and global warming. That’s why I found the article, Green Cement May Set CO2 Fate In Concrete, extremely interesting. Stanford Professor Brent Constantz says he’s found a way of producing green cement that could eliminate the massive quantities of CO2 being produced each year.

His method has two major benefits, first it allows cement to be made without producing large quantities of CO2 and it also reduces the amount of CO2 being dispersed into the atmosphere from modern day power plants. Professor Constantz takes carbon dioxide gases from the smoke stacks of a conventional power plant and bubbles the gas through sea water. The process creates the chemical necessary to produce cement and it captures a large portion of the CO2 being released by the power plant.

The idea has gained support from some venture capitalists and researchers. It’s exciting to think that if this process actually produces cement with the necessary properties to produce structural concrete that it could make a major impact on global warming and air pollution. Cement is one of the largest manufactured products in the world and it’s impact on the environment is significant.
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