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| Kick planet-warming CO2 in the 'Aspercreme' with algae that makes cement for concrete (Page 1/1) |
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rinselberg
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JUN 24, 05:34 PM
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I guess I'm on a "roll" today. First, it was Hamburger Kelper. I guess I like to read about "stuff" that seems promising and then go into Show And Tell mode. To exercise my liking for stringing words together. But that's by way of introduction; to wit:
"A road that's paved with concrete is a road to hell, climate-wise"
| quote | | Global cement production accounts for 7% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in large part through the burning of quarried limestone. Now, a CU Boulder-led research team has figured out a way to make cement production carbon neutral—and even carbon negative—by pulling carbon dioxide out of the air with the help of microalgae. |
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"Ask not what algae can do for you. Ask what you can do for algae."
| quote | | The CU [Colorado University] Boulder engineers and their colleagues at the Algal Resources Collection at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have been rewarded for their innovative work with a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E). The research team was recently selected by the HESTIA program (Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere) to develop and scale up the manufacture of biogenic limestone-based portland cement and help build a zero-carbon future. |
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"Can you handle a 'whopper'..?"
| quote | | If all cement-based construction around the world was replaced with biogenic limestone cement, each year, a whopping 2 gigatons of carbon dioxide would no longer be pumped into the atmosphere and more than 250 million additional tons of carbon dioxide would be pulled out of the atmosphere and stored in these materials. |
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"It would be crazy not to"
| quote | | These microalgae are hardy little creatures, living in both warm and cold, salt and fresh waters around the world, making them great candidates for cultivation almost anywhere—in cities, on land, or at sea. According to the team’s estimates, only 1 to 2 million acres of open ponds would be required to produce all of the cement that the U.S. needs—0.5% of all land area in the U.S. and only 1% of the land used to grow corn. |
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"Build Back Better with algae"
| quote | | And limestone isn’t the only product microalgae can create: microalgae’s lipids, proteins, sugars and carbohydrates can be used to produce biofuels, food and cosmetics, meaning these microalgae could also be a source of other, more expensive co-products—helping to offset the costs of limestone production. |
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Would You Like To Know More?
Cities of the future may be built with algae-grown limestone
Kelsey Simpkins for University of Colorado Boulder, Today; June 23, 2022.
https://www.colorado.edu/to...lgae-grown-limestone[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 06-24-2022).]
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Notorio
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JUN 26, 12:22 AM
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I enjoyed your little section titles very much 
The San Diego area was big into algae-based biofuel research not that long ago ... I wonder what happened with that? Potentially, that might have all been killed off when the country became a net exporter of energy and oil was cheap. 
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