Cement

Even slight adjustments to how we make cement and concrete can have a big impact on their environmental footprint, and as research continues to show, scientists working in this space are not short of ideas.

The production of cement is a major source of carbon emissions, so the less of it that's used, the better. A new study could help, as it shows that cement can be made much stronger with the addition of material derived from waste shrimp shells.

Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder claim to have uncovered a greener form of cement production by tapping into a species of cloudy microalgae that naturally produce limestone particles through photosynthesis.

The production of traditional Portland cement is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, as the ingredients have to be heated to very high temperatures. Such is not the case with a new biocement, however, which also incorporates waste materials.

Over the past couple of years, disposable face masks have become a very plentiful form of garbage. There may actually be a use for them, however, as recent research shows that they could strengthen concrete when added to it.

Although concrete can be altered in order to help tiny cracks show up before they become catastrophic, scientists have now discovered that regular concrete does the job pretty well itself. It just needs a coat of ordinary paint, and a light source.

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world, but it comes at a huge environmental cost. Engineers in Japan have developed a new technique to make concrete by recycling waste concrete and combining it with captured carbon dioxide.

Scientists have come up with an alternative cement recipe that makes use of unused mining materials to cut its carbon emissions by up to two thirds, while meeting the performance requirements of traditional Portland cement.

As the world's strongest artificial material, graphene may have a lot to offer the world of construction, and scientists have offered another example of this by using it to create a novel form of cement that is highly resistant to water and cracks.

Scientists at Stanford University have demonstrated a cement recipe that swaps troublesome limestone for zero-carbon volcanic rock, which might just help reinforce the finished product through embedded microscopic fibers.

Recent research projects have demonstrated how the wonder material graphene could play a role in stronger, more eco-friendly concrete, and now we're seeing the first real-world deployment of the technology in the foundations of a new gym in the UK.

A six-year competition to capture CO2 emissions from operational power plants and convert them into useful products has drawn to a close, and produced dual winners with technologies that promise to reduce the environmental footprint of concrete.