Lesson 4 Making things Flashcards
Are we going to stop using “indispensible” materials like concrete, steel and plastic?
No.
What can we do then?
Make concrete, steel and plastics better.
How much of greenhouse gases does manufacturing account for?
Nearly 1/3 - 31%
What is the problem with steel and concrete manufacturing?
Releasing CO2 is central to their creation.
Why is concrete used so much?
It is cheap, can be made locally and its ingredients are available most places on Earth.
What are the ingredients of concrete?
Gravel, sand, water and cement.
What is cement?
It is a binding agent made from the minerals found in limestone, shells, sand, etc, heated to high temps and ground into a fine powder.
What is the carbon problem with making concrete?
The making of the cement.
How does making cement create carbon emmissions?
The process to extract calcium from limestone, which also contains carbon and oxygen. You burn it at 2500°+
What in the resulting product called?
Clinker, which is ground into cement.
What does making clinker do?
For every ton of clinker created, a ton of CO2 is released.
How much cement do we make each year? How is that expected to change?
4 billion tons/year. It is expected to increase and then fall back to 4 billion by 2050. [Why?]
What is EcoCem Materials trying to do?
There is a by-product of the steel industry which may be better than cement in concrete manufacture.
What is that product?
Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag
What type of solution is this?
A Circular Economy. It uses the bi-product of one industry to reduce carbon emissions in another industry
Does their product have a Green Premium?
No. The cost is the same and the performance is superior.
What project is EcoCem working on?
The expansion of the Paris Metro System - the largest infrastructure project in the world.
What other project are they working on?
Sea walls and dikes
What else is the cement industry working on?
CO2 captured at manufacture site, but this is very expensive.
Why is there a reluctance in the construction industry to adopt new technologies?
Fear that they will not perform as well.
STEEL
What is the main ingredient?
Iron ore, which is brittle.
How do they fix this?
Oxygen and other elements must be removed to purify and carbon is added.
Why is this a problem?
Only 1% of the carbon bonds with the iron ore.
The rest bonds with the oxygen to make a lot of CO2.
How much CO2 is created?
Making 1 ton of steel produces 1.8 tons of CO2.
How much steel was produced in 2020?
2 billion tons.
:: 3.6 billion tons of CO2
Who much steel will be made in 2050?
2.8 billion tons /
5 billion tons of CO2
What has the Boston Metal Company developed to help?
A process called
Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE)
used clean electricity
How does this work?
Instead of using a blast furnace, it uses electrolysis.
How much CO2 does this process release?
Zero.
Its only by-product is oxygen.
What green sources of electricity are being used?
Hydroelectricity.
Wind and solar will help.
How is MOE double energy-efficient?
It uses less electricity and the electricity will be green.
What does its success depend on?
The cost of the Green electricity.
Is there demand for carbon emission-free steel?
Yes. Very much.
Which industry wants it now?
The auto indusctry.
Nobody wants an electric car made with dirty steel.
What obstacles are they facing?
Proving to potential customers it works.
