Environment

Embodied carbon of concrete in buildings: Large-scale study calls for more consistency and accuracy in reporting of carbon impacts

By Lisa McDonald / July 14, 2023

Players in the cement and concrete sectors are working diligently to achieve a reduction in emissions. However, there are multiple gaps in knowledge about the extent of these emissions, which makes it difficult to determine how effective new initiatives are at reducing emissions. A group of researchers from several universities in the United Kingdom are conducting a large-scale study to help fill this knowledge gap.

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Maximizing resource use—modified starch aids in selective separation of feldspar and quartz from tailings

By Lisa McDonald / June 27, 2023

Instead of open-pit mines, tailings may become the primary source of feldspar and quartz in the future if the minerals can be selectively extracted from the waste. Researchers in China showed that hydroxypropyl starch can improve the flotation separation of feldspar and quartz.

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Video: Scotland’s proposed container recycling scheme faces delays and controversy

By Lisa McDonald / June 14, 2023

Over the past few years, the Scotland government has worked to develop a deposit return scheme to increase recycling rates for drink containers in the country. However, implementation of the scheme has been delayed due to pushback from retailers and drinks companies. A recent decision by the U.K. government excluding glass from the scheme has now pushed back the launch date to October 2025.

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Remediating mine waste—ceramics aid in treatment of acid mine drainage

By Lisa McDonald / June 6, 2023

With the rapid growth of the global mining sector, it is crucial that miners adopt improved regulations and lower-impact methods to reduce the sector’s environmental and social footprint. Ceramics play an important role in environmental remediation, and today’s CTT highlights two studies that use ceramics to treat acid mine drainage.

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Video: Upcoming deadline risks deep-sea mining taking place without regulations

By Lisa McDonald / May 31, 2023

The International Seabed Authority is running up against a July 9 deadline to finish developing a code for deep-sea mining. The possibility of mineral exploitation taking place without regulations has marine scientists concerned because so much is still unknown about the environmental effects of this practice.

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Video: Cement Association of Canada takes concrete steps toward a net-zero cement and concrete industry

By Lisa McDonald / May 10, 2023

Various regional and global groups within the cement and concrete industry are actively working to help achieve a reduction in emissions in this sector. The Cement Association of Canada is one such group, and today’s CTT looks at several prominent initiatives the Association has helped launch this past year.

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Deep decarbonization of glassmaking, plus more inside May 2023 ACerS Bulletin

By Lisa McDonald / May 4, 2023

The May 2023 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring methods for decarbonizing industrial processes—is now available online. Plus—new Bulletin digital format goes live.

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Molten salt electrochemical synthesis could improve sustainability of white phosphorus production

By Guest Contributor / April 18, 2023

White phosphorus is a synthetic form of phosphorus used to produce many commodity chemicals. But the conventional process for producing white phosphorus has a high carbon footprint. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a molten salt synthesis process for white phosphorus production that is more cost effective and environmentally friendly.

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Low-carbon cement technology heading from lab to market

By Guest Contributor / March 24, 2023

The recent one-year anniversary of the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships is a reminder of the federal government’s commitment to take a larger role in supporting the transition of use-inspired research from the lab to the marketplace. Ideally this support will allow more university researchers to follow in the footsteps of Sublime Systems, a spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aims to commercialize a low-carbon cement technology.

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Video: World Water Day 2023—how ceramics and glass accelerate change to solve the water and sanitation crisis

By Lisa McDonald / March 22, 2023

This year’s World Water Day on March 22 focuses on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. Today’s CTT is a collection of articles from the past year that illustrate how ceramic and glass materials support this goal.

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