Low-carbon materials

Part of Civil engineering and infrastructure. Materials, bridges, tunnels, dams, disaster engineering and the codes behind them.

4 stories so far

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Civil & infrastructure11 Oct, 2:15 pm · 5 min read

Sweden's hydrogen steel plant wins Google deal, then needs more cash

Stegra signed a certificate deal with Google in September, then said finishing its Boden green steel plant will cost much more than planned.

For you: Steel and cement are the two materials civil engineers specify most, and both are under pressure to cut emissions. This story shows the economics: low-carbon steel is technically possible but expensive to build at scale. Engineers will increasingly be asked to report the embodied carbon of a design and choose between materials on that basis. Understanding where steel's emissions come from helps BCE students make those choices in practice.

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Civil & infrastructure11 Oct, 1:39 pm · 6 min read

Fortera and MLC plan US plant turning lime-kiln CO2 into cement

The agreement covers a plant of more than 300,000 tonnes a year that captures CO2 from lime making and binds it into a cement product.

For you: This is one of several routes the cement industry is testing to reduce its emissions, and each changes what a site engineer receives in the truck. For BCE students, it is a reminder that cement chemistry is not fixed: hydration, carbonation and strength gain are being redesigned. A new binder must still pass standard strength, setting and durability tests before codes accept it, and that testing is work civil engineers do in materials labs.

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Civil & infrastructure11 Oct, 1:27 pm · 5 min read

Holcim opens Czech calcined clay line to cut cement clinker

A new line at Cizkovice makes over 115,000 tonnes of calcined clay a year, letting Holcim supply about 580,000 tonnes of lower-carbon cement.

For you: Clinker is the most carbon-heavy part of cement, so cutting it is the main lever for greener concrete. Nepal makes most of its own cement and has plenty of clay, which makes calcined clay blends a realistic local option rather than an imported idea. A BCE student who understands supplementary cementitious materials, blended cement standards and how mix design changes with them will be ready for questions that Nepali cement plants and contractors are starting to ask.

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Civil & infrastructure11 Oct, 1:21 pm · 5 min read

Study finds concrete reabsorbs under 10% of cement's CO2

A UCLA-led study says ambient carbonation of concrete offsets far less of cement emissions than earlier estimates of up to 57%.

For you: Carbonation appears in BCE courses mainly as a durability threat, because it lowers the alkalinity that protects steel reinforcement from rust. This study shows the same process cannot be counted on as a climate fix. For students, it is a good example of how cover depth, porosity and mix design control a slow diffusion process, and why claims about green concrete need careful numbers behind them.

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