Just saw a stat about concrete that blew my mind

Honestly, I was reading a report from the UN Environment Programme last week and it said if concrete were a country, it would be the third biggest carbon emitter after China and the US. That's insane. I always thought cars and coal were the main problem. It's because making cement needs super high heat, which uses a ton of fossil fuels. Tbh, it makes you rethink every new building and road project you see. Has anyone else seen real progress on using low-carbon concrete in their city?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nathan1mo ago

Yeah but that stat feels a bit misleading. It lumps all concrete together, but a lot of that carbon is from China's insane building boom. Our local projects are a tiny drop in the bucket.

henry_hernandez1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that's the classic "but China" excuse for everything now. So my local city paving over a whole wetland for another parking lot gets a free pass? Guess I'll just point at Shanghai and keep dumping my concrete mixer down the drain, problem solved.