The Good News About Concrete and Carbon Dioxide

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H. Sterling Burnett

Managing Editor, Environment & Climate News at The Heartland Institute

H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. is managing editor of Environment & Climate News and a research fellow for environment and energy policy at The Heartland Institute. Burnett worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis for 18 years, most recently as a senior fellow in charge of NCPA’s environmental policy program. He has held various positions in professional and public policy organizations, including serving as a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Task Force in the Texas Comptroller’s e-Texas commission.

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Cement for house construction

Cement production is responsible for as much as 8 percent of global human greenhouse gas emissions. According to Watts Up With That, the most popular climate news site on the internet,  however, new research published in Nature Geoscience finds cement eventually reabsorbs most of the carbon dioxide released during its creation.

In the cement production process, carbon dioxide molecules are released directly as limestone is converted to lime, the key ingredient in cement. Additional carbon dioxide is emitted as fossil fuels are burned to heat the lime sufficiently to break it down. The new research shows the process of carbonation draws carbon dioxide into the pores of cement-based materials, and thus the buildings, roads, and other infrastructure projects that require cement ultimately remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over time. University of California, Irvine, earth system scientist Steven Davis, one of the co-authors of the study, stated, “It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. The cement poured around the world since 1930 has taken up a substantial portion of the CO2 released when it was initially produced.”