Could this revolutionary new material replace concrete?

2015-04-15T14:46:00-04:00

Perhaps the most important and widely-used building material, concrete also has an enormous environmental impact. This is largely because in order to produce one ton of cement – the material that binds together rock aggregate in concrete – about 900 kg of C02 are emitted. In fact, the concrete industry is responsible for roughly 5% of carbon emissions worldwide, making it one of the two largest industrial producers of the greenhouse gas.

But, thanks to an accidental discovery, a environmentally-friendly substitute to cement may be on the horizon. A recent report by PBS features the invention of environmental chemist David Stone: a cement-like material that isn't just carbon-neutral but actually carbon-negative. Called 'Ferrock,' the material primarily contains iron dust and silica, both of which can be sourced via recycling. In fact, in order to obtain silica (basically crushed glass), Stone has employed a local man to collect glass bottles that have been left in the desert. While m...

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Could this revolutionary new material replace concrete?