The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #166646   Message #4151168
Posted By: Stilly River Sage
27-Aug-22 - 11:49 AM
Thread Name: BS: climate crisis - how do we go from here?
Subject: RE: BS: climate crisis - how do we go from here?
Agricultural methods use polluting materials that will also kill people. Changing to regenerative methods will help a little.

I heard a story this week about municipalities and even individuals suing the top global polluters (LafargeHolcim is the largest cement company and seems to have drawn some of these suits) to cover part of the costs of dealing with environmental impacts. Hard to say if any of those will be successful or will impact how the companies operate. This article suggests it can be greener than it is now. "Decarbonizing"
Two aspects of the Portland cement manufacturing process account for the vast share of its carbon footprint. Cement is overwhelmingly made by burning fossil fuels like coal and petcoke in cement kilns—akin to large furnaces—to heat limestone (raw material) to very high temperatures (~2,640°F/1,500oC). The heat induces a chemical reaction that transforms the limestone into clinker, which is then ground together with gypsum to form cement. Emissions from fuel burning are responsible for ~40% of the lifecycle CO2 emissions in cement (often referred to as the embodied emissions) (Figure 3). The other ~60% are the result of an unavoidable chemical reaction (calcination) that occurs when the limestone is heated, which releases CO2 from calcium carbonate in the limestone.

Gotta find a cleaner way to make that clinker.