Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

NimusNix t1_ix1k4xt wrote

Reply to comment by jimius in The road to low-carbon concrete: Humanity's love affair with cement and concrete results in massive CO2 emissions. by filosoful

>We use concrete because it is cheap and easy to use.

Right.

>There are better materials out there for a long time, centuries even. But the problem is always price or labour.

Which is why it is less a love affair and more akin to an abusive relationship.

>So without a carbon tax, cement will be able to externalize it's true costs towards the environment.

This will help, but there is a hopeful new process on the horizon that injects the CO2 right back into the concrete to trap it while building it. Hopefully that pans out, also.

5

jimius t1_ix1pal3 wrote

Or, like you mentioned, we just leave this abusive relationship...
Concrete will always be useful for certain things, like foundations, elevator shafts. But it should not be the ubiquitous building material that it is.

−1