A concrete idea to reduce carbon emissions

Concrete is the second most-used substance on Earth (behind water), and it's responsible for eight percent of the world's carbon footprint. Cement researcher Karen Scrivener shares the research behind a pioneering new kind of cement known as LC3, which could slash carbon emissions from this crucial building material by 40 percent, if adopted at scale.

Concrete is the second
most used substance on earth after water,

and for this reason,

it has a significant environmental impact.

If it were a country, it would rank third
for emissions after China and USA.

But in fact, concrete
is an intrinsically low-impact material

with much lower emissions
of CO2 and energy per ton

than other materials like iron and steel,
even things like bricks.

But because of the enormous
volumes we use overall,

it contributes to about eight percent
of man-made CO2 emissions.

Concrete is an essential material.

We need it to house people,

to build roads, bridges and dams.

So we can't do without it,

but we can significantly reduce
its carbon footprint.

Concrete is held together by cement.

And cement we use today,
called Portland cement,

is made by heating together a combination
of limestone and clay

at a temperature of 1,450 degrees Celsius.

But in fact, most of the CO2 emissions

come not from the heating,

but from the breakdown of limestone,
which is calcium carbonate,

into calcium oxide
and carbon dioxide, or CO2.

Now we can't do without
this component altogether,

because nothing else is so efficient
at holding stuff together.

But we can replace
a large proportion of it

with other materials
with lighter carbon footprints.

Many colleagues are looking for solutions.

And here in Switzerland,

we have found that clays produce
very reactive materials

when they're calcined,

that's to say heated
to around 800 degrees Celsius,

significantly lower than the 1,450
needed to produce cement.

But more importantly,
there's no CO2 emissions

from the decomposition of limestone.

We then take this calcined clay,

and we add a bit of limestone --

but this time not heated,
so no CO2 emissions --

and some cement,

and this combination of limestone,
calcined clay and cement, we call LC3.

Now this LC3 here

has the same properties
as Portland cement.

It can be produced
with the same equipment and processes

and used in the same way,

but has up to 40 percent
lower CO2 emissions.

And this was demonstrated in this house
we built near Jhansi in India,

where we could save
more than 15 tons of CO2,

which was 30 to 40 percent
compared to existing materials.

So why isn't everybody already using LC3?

Well, cement is a local material.

The reason Portland cement is so pervasive

is that it's produced
from the most abundant materials on Earth

and can be produced in India,

in the United States,
in Ethiopia, almost anywhere.

And we have to work with people locally

to find the best combination
of materials to make LC3.

We have already done
full-scale trials in India and Cuba.

In Colombia, a product
based on this technology

was commercialized a few months ago,

and in the Ivory Coast,

the full-scale plant
is being commissioned to calcine clays.

And many of the world's
largest cement companies

are looking to introduce this
in some of their plants soon.

So the possibility to replace
Portland cement

with a different material --

but with the same properties,
produced in the same processes

and used in the same way,

but with much lighter carbon footprint --

is really crucial
to confront climate change

because it can be done fast
and it can be done on a very large scale

with the possibility to eliminate

more than 400 million tons
of CO2 every year.

So we can't do without concrete,

but we can do without a significant amount
of the emissions it produces.

Thank you.