How cement may yet help slow global warming
It is a big source of emissions, but might one day be the reverse
THE ROMANS perfected concrete, and their legacy still stands in the form of the magnificent roof of the Pantheon, the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. Since it was completed in around 125AD by the Emperor Hadrian, an awful lot more concrete has been poured—some 30bn tonnes every year, at the moment, to put up buildings, roads, bridges, dams and other structures. The grey stuff has become the most widely used construction material on the planet, and demand is growing.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Set in green concrete”
From the November 6th 2021 edition
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