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When we take a look at major cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo – the first thing that may come to mind about the ecological impact of these cities may be their infrastructure or the excessive emissions created by the mass transportation or car usage, but the carbon footprint of concrete isn’t usually the first one that comes to mind.
Major cities in the world are largely composed of concrete, but did you know that the carbon footprint of concrete is bigger than most people think?
In this article, we’ll explain what concrete is, why big cities use concrete, the carbon footprint of concrete, and some viable alternatives to concrete.
Concrete is a material which consists of both solid and chemical substances, such as sand, gravel, cement, and water in order to create a smooth or rock-like consistency.
When we think of concrete, our mind usually goes to the material found on sidewalks or the outer surface of a building or wall – but concrete is used more often than we realise.
Concrete is commonly used for:
People oftentimes get concrete confused with cement, however – the two are not the same. Concrete is usually composed of sand, gravel, and cement – whereas cement is solely a binding agent composed of resources such as limestone and clay. In short, concrete can’t exist without cement – but cement can exist without concrete.
👉 Did you know? Out of the 300 square miles that make up New York City, almost 1.7 trillion pounds of concrete are used to make up much of the pavement and buildings found in the city that never sleeps.
Concrete is used often and remains important to society seeing as it can help to benefit both the environment and the economy when employed correctly – such as help to increase energy efficiency and boost the economy through job creation.
Some of the additional benefits of concrete include:
However, the overarching importance of concrete is that it allows us to curate a more functional society.
For instance, without concrete, we wouldn’t be able to build bridges – and without bridges, many of us would be forced to take boats or ferries to cross bodies of water.
👉 Ultimately, concrete has allowed for greater convenience in society – with the majority of modernised design being impossible without the use of concrete.
Even if concrete has proven essential and affordable to accommodate modern life, the carbon footprint of concrete has proven to be massive – seeing as concrete contributed to 8% of global emissions in 2021.
It isn’t as much the actual make-up of concrete that contributes to the carbon footprint of concrete, but how commonly it is used. From buildings, to bridges to tunnels – around 4 billion tons of concrete were produced in 2021 alone.
In fact, the production of concrete is more carbon intensive than the aviation industry – with air travel only accounting for 2% of global emissions in 2022 compared to the 8% of emissions from concrete in 2021.
However, it’s also the manufacturing process of cement itself, compulsory to be used in concrete, which generates much of the excess emissions. This is because clay and limestone, the materials required to produce cement, need to be heated over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (around 1,371 degrees Celsius) in order for it to work as a binding agent in cement.
In addition to all of these, the carbon footprint of concrete can be attributed to:
👉 Evidently, concrete is a major contributor to global emissions, meaning if we curb emissions, we need to create more sustainable alternatives to concrete – some of which are already in the works.
There are several negatives to the use of concrete, such as how long it takes for concrete to cure and hinder future creativity in construction and infrastructure with the easy accessibility of concrete.
Here are some more downsides to the use of concrete:
👉 Concrete has demonstrated that it has negative qualities in addition to its environmental impact, which begs the question – are there any alternatives in order to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete?
Unbeknownst to most, there are several alternatives to the use of concrete – such as aircrete, hempcrete, and green concrete.
One of the major projects in the works to reduce the environmental impact of concrete is to develop “carbon-neutral” concrete – which would require replacing over a third the cement usually used in concrete with magnesium and silica. This would help to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete seeing as one of the most carbon intensive parts to concrete is the ecological impact of cement.
For example, studies have shown that much of construction which resorts to the use of concrete could be replaced with the use of timber. However, the downside to this is that timber is more flammable than concrete – and with extensive wildfires such as those that occurred in Maui last summer, it doesn’t make a compelling argument for timber to replace concrete.
However, there are still more counter actions that can be taken for cities and construction companies wary of shying away from the use of concrete. For instance, cities like New York can try to take after European cities such as Paris and strive to create more green areas and parks, as this can help to absorb more carbon dioxide in bustling cities.
Ultimately, the push for discovering new alternatives to concrete has never been more important as the world begins to take climate change more seriously – and luckily, there are multiple alternatives for the world to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete: together.
If reading this article about the carbon footprint of concrete has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
It can be challenging to fully understand the carbon footprint of concrete amongst many other activities and materials in your business, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help. Click here to schedule a demo to see how Greenly can help you find ways to improve energy efficiency and decrease the dependency on fossil fuels in your own company.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
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