Farting cows and poisonous concrete

The hole in the ozone is blamed upon lots of factors, my favourite is blaming it on cow farts! Lots of long explanations about how methane gas from cows causes greenhouse gases seems to make us forget that we are the ones responsible for the massive cow population so therefore damage caused by cow farts is our fault.

What I did not know, and the Guardian made me aware of, was the fact that concrete is very hazardous to the ozone: “Making the 2bn tonnes of cement used globally every year pumps out 5% of the world’s CO2 emissions – more than the entire aviation industry.”

Engineers have now devised a concrete which reverses the process. The Guardian:

Novacem’s cement, based on magnesium silicates, not only requires much less heating, it also absorbs large amounts of CO2 as it hardens, making it carbon negative.

Very cool stuff. But what are the negative effects of this evolutionary step in concrete?

Friday list 2: Miracles in Concrete

A second list you cannot miss on this early Friday evening is the Swedish Miracles in Concrete. This is not a mistake in translation: miracles, indeed! Well what they actually are trying to create is a list of the seven concrete wonders of the world but in Swedish wonders becomes miracles!

Örebro water tower – (about)
The Sandö Bridge – (about)
Turning Torso – (about)
The Kaknäs Tower – (about)
The new Svinesund bridge (about)
Arlanda Air Traffic Control (cannot find about)
Öresund Bridge – (about)

How did they chose these seven? Well first 21 buildings were nominated and there was an open vote for the seven best.