Is concrete environment friendly?

Believe it or not. After water, concrete is the most widely used substance on Earth. The claim of mankind in cementing relation with its environment has failed miserably, yet he thinks concrete is the foundation of modern development. It provides a structure for healthcare, education, energy and industry in the event of natural disasters.

It is true, we enjoy having a roof over our heads and mud off our feet when we talk about concrete. Concrete is part and parcel of our lives. Everywhere we go, we use concrete. In our homes, in our schools, in our offices, on the pavements, on the roads, and in hospitals. Even when we flush the toilet we are using concrete. It is for this reason that we often measure modern development in terms of concrete.

Our built environment has been greatly influenced by it, but as they say, everything comes at a cost, and this comes at a huge environmental price.

Cement is the key ingredient in concrete. In a study it was found “cement which we use on a global scale over 4 billion tons every year, its production alone generates around 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) per year—about 8% of the global total.

Making cement requires the use of long rotating kilns the length of two football pitches, which are heated to around 1,500°C. The chemical process which turns the raw material of limestone and clay into cement also releases high levels of CO₂. The environmental impact of concrete, however, goes further than the large amount of CO₂ released into the atmosphere through cement production.

Such widespread use of concrete is also exhausting our diminishing supplies of useable sand. Moreover, concrete consumes almost 10% of the world’s industrial water supplies.