Carbon emissions associated with two types of foundations: CP-II Portland cement-based composite vs. geopolymer concrete

Abstract

The cement industry is the second-largest single industrial emitter in the world and therefore has an important role to play in reducing the intensity of its carbon emissions: participation of the sector is important to contribute to the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement to limit global warming. One of the strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry is substitution of Portland cement, which is a component of the concrete mix widely used as a construction material worldwide. Geopolymer cement has emerged as an alternative for Portland cement, with several advantages. This study applied the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to quantify the carbon emissions associated with 1m 3 of two types of concrete (concrete PC-II cement-based Portland cement vs. geopolymer concrete). Geopolymer concrete presented almost 43% less carbon emissions, while also presenting high physic-chemical performance. It was verified that geopolymer concrete has the potential to help mitigate climate change, and can be employed as part of the plan to minimize the emissions associated with the construction sector.

Greenhouse gas and energy payback times for a wind turbine installed in the Brazilian Northeast

“…The footing is constituted of 700 t of concrete and 25 t of iron. According to Gomes et al (2019), concrete is a composition of mineral and chemical additives, water, and cement and is responsible for a considerable amount of GHG emissions. Approximately 4% of global GHG emissions can be attributed to cement, according to Andrew (2018).…”

Analysis on determinants of carbon emissions from plaza ground paving during the construction stage based on life cycle assessment

“…Calculating carbon emission factors by experimental determination is complicated, and there has been a unified carbon emission factor database for building materials. Therefore, published carbon emission factor databases are frequently employed in most current researches 26 – 29 . Since the calculation results are more objective and accurate when employing the databases with the same source, the carbon emission factors of building materials in this research are all based on the carbon emissions list issued by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Bath University, as shown in Appendix I (Stone Federation Great Britain, 2011).…”

Educação ambiental por meio de um app para quantificação de pegada de carbono

“…Como mencionado por Carvalho et al (2016) e Freire et al (2016), o desenvolvimento de uma consciência ambiental generalizada criou uma demanda por processos ambientalmente mais "amigáveis", e já existem grandes avanços e desenvolvimentos na aplicação de princípios de eco-eficiência pelas indústrias e projetistas. Exemplos de estudos ambientais voltados para a conscientização incluem Melquíades et al (2019) que calcularam a pegada de carbono associada ao processo de pasteurização de sorvetes, Gomes et al (2019) que compararam as emissões de dois tipos de concreto para construção civil, Carvalho et al (2019b) que calcularam a pegada de carbono associada à geração de bioeletricidade a partir de bagaço de cana, Carvalho et al (2018) que compararam as emissões relativas a dois processos caseiros para produção de batata chips, e Nóbrega et al (2019) que desenvolveram uma ACV compreensiva, com vários indicadores ambientais, para a coleta seletiva de papel e papelão em João Pessoa, Paraíba.…”