New Cement Mixture Cuts Cement CO2 and Energy Footprint by 97%

Since its discovery in Antiquity people have been using cement to make buildings, pave walkways, and generally build what we know as our modern society.  Cement is one of the most abundant man-made materials on Earth, and despite the use and discovery of other strong materials cement is still used as the chief ingredient in many foundations and buildings.  Companies like Seament, founded by Alexander Bouri and now run by his sons Mark and Charles Bouri, make their fortune by trading the essential building material and cement companies in India and China are extremely profitable because of the country's population and construction boom.

Recently there has been concern over cement's impact on the environment.  A considerable amount of greenhouse gas is produced during the cement making process, since cement is such an important part of construction different organizations are trying their best to find a way to make cement more environmentally friendly.  A group of people from Drexel University have discovered a way to cut the CO2 and energy footprint of cement by 97%, and people are eager to make their cement formula the cement making standard.

The Drexel team created an alkali-activated cement based on an industrial by-product, simple slag and limestone, which doesn't require the mixture to be heated to produce.  Unlike some other environmentally friendly versions of products and manufacturing process, making this new cement mixture won't cost a lot of money.  Their cement recipe is much cheaper than the current standard composition.  Drexel estimates that the cheapness of the cement ingredients and different production method makes their mixture 40% cheaper than the standard Portland cement mixture. 

Calling Drexel's wonder mixture 100% wouldn't exactly be accurate.  Alkali-activated cement was used in the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s, and the team claims that their product is very similar to the cement formula ancient Romans used.  Regardless of the mixture's past it'll have a huge impact on the future of construction, some companies are already using the Drexel mixture for their construction projects.