Towards Retainig a Polar Ice Cap

My inner scientist (enamored with thermodynamics, in thrall to patterns and cycles) really loves stuff like this:

The production of Portland cement is the third largest source of the world’s carbon dioxide. People generate 27 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year There was 2.35 billion tons of cement used in 2007 and demand is increasing at 130 million tons per year. 1.4 billion tons of cement produced and used in China is 2007. The production of cement generates 1 to 1.2 tons of CO2 per ton of cement or about 2.5 billion tons of CO2.

Calera cement is a startup funded by Vinod Khosla, technology billionaire. Calera's process takes the idea of carbon capture and storage a step forward by storing the CO2 in a useful product. For every ton of Calera cement that is made, they are sequestering half a ton of CO2. Note: this is less than original reports of sequestering one ton of CO2 per ton of Calera Cement. Still this is 75% as good. 50% is from not generating the 1 to 1.2 tons of CO2 to begin with.

Reforestation is a great thing too, but the reality is that we dug up billions of tons of shit from under the ground and burned it. We're going to need to figure out how to take that carbon and put it back into the ground safely. Making it into rock (concrete) is a good idea.

The downside is that the concrete will likely be weaker and more energy intensive to produce. Good for sidewalks and residential road-beds, but not bridges or skyscrapers. Still lots of potential.