terça-feira, 22 de junho de 2021

The Circularity Gap

https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2020/09/environmental-impacts-and.html

Still following the post above check below the non-edited abstract of the introductory chapter of a book that will be published in a few months. 

"ABSTRACT: This chapter starts by reviewing crucial facts about the climate emergency, resource efficiency, and circular economy to provide a context for the contribution of alkali-activated concrete. The world economy uses more than 100,000 million tons of natural resources (an average of 13 tons per person). Of that consumption, 67,000 million tons are transformed into atmospheric pollution like carbon dioxide or become solid waste like the plastics that enter the oceans each year. Of the remaining 35,000 million tons, only 8400 million tons are reused. Population growth will further increase resource consumption and waste generation meaning that increasing amounts of waste reuse must be tackled. Alkali-activated concrete has utmost importance because it can recycle a high amount of industrial waste, and this is why a change in the terminology used for categorizing these materials is necessary. A system that provides visibility to the high recycling features of these materials and aids in its wide acceptance and application by the construction industry. Furthermore, when governments decide to place high taxes on the extraction of virgin raw materials (like the ones that already exist in some Nordic countries), then alkali-activated concrete mixtures can finally gain a cost-competitive advantage over Portland cement concrete-based mixtures. The chapter includes a brief review on recent alkali-activated concrete developments. An outline of the book is also included"