Clay foundation to lower cement emissions – Parkes Champion-Post

Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited content, the digital versions of our print editions – Today's Paper, as well as The Central Western Daily, Daily Liberal and Western Advocate apps.
One of the biggest sources of carbon emissions is cement but engineers are determined to build a foundation for change.
Research at Charles Sturt University has discovered that using clay to first stabilise peat and softer soil can reduce the amount of cement needed by more than 40 per cent.
“This study is the first step to help tackle one of the world’s biggest polluters – cement,” Bathurst-based civil engineer Miao Li said.
The senior lecturer said the published academic research confirmed the feasibility of using clay as a partial replacement for cement in peat stabilisation.
Dr Li said the next stage of research is to work with clay and a large number of soils that are problematic for engineering – collapsible soils, expansive soils that can swell or shrink, peat, silty and liquefiable soils.
She said using cement for peat and soft soil foundation stabilisation has been a traditional engineering practice, but cement production is highly energy-intensive and causes significant carbon emissions.
The cement industry accounts for about one-quarter of all industrial greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible 7 to 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Most of that pollution is emitted while cement is made, when raw materials are exposed to high temperatures.
Charles Sturt laboratory experiments have demonstrated the benefits of using clay as a natural and environmentally-friendly material to replace the use of cement, according to the study.
She said it also shows what research can do to help worldwide and achieve United Nations sustainable development goals.
“Even though this engineering application is not highly relevant for applications in Australia, since we don’t build on peat in Australia because we have so much land we don’t need to, it is applicable elsewhere,” she said.
“It will inform engineering practice for peat stabilisation to help contribute to the global target of carbon neutrality by 2050.”
The research by Dr Li and her fellow researchers at the Kunming University of Science and Technology in China has been published in the journal Construction and Building Materials.
Australian Associated Press
Advertisement
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.
We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.
Advertisement

source