Carbon now seems to have no way out to stay in the atmospheres.The process of using algae provides a method to literally “ suck “ up the carbon from the environment, which is currently being enhanced and developed.Now concrete developers are investigating a method that allows “ trapping “ of carbon in concrete . Research says , that concrete accounts for more than 5 % , of human based carbon impact annually – a significant amount. This is due the fact that cement , an active ingredient in concrete is made by treatment of limestone and clay under intense heat.The heat for this process is most often produced by use of fossil fuels .Furthermore , the mixing of cement gravel,sand and water for manufacturing concrete produces additional heat and steam .
Halifax based Carbon Sense Solutions , now plans to reverse the carbon produced during concrete manufacturing by exploiting a natural tendency of concrete to reabsorb carbon dioxide.Under natural conditions this process takes hundreds of years and results from a series of natural chemical reactions.Carbon Sense’s process involves treating freshly mixed concrete with a stream of carbon rich gases that speed up these natural reactions , between the gas and calcium rich minerals in cement.This process also eliminates any need for steam or heat , cutting down energy as well as emissions.
However, the actual impact on carbon reduction due to this process is still not clearly established.Additionally the impact of high carbon in concrete may affect its properties and thereby limit its application in certain cases.
