Berlin / Halle / Karlsruhe – “Like the sand of the sea” – so they say when something is available in large quantities. Of all things, this no longer applies to sand suitable for construction. There has long been talk of a global sand shortage in specialist circles. Germany also imports sand, which, along with gravel, is an important component of the most important building material of all: concrete.
Another critical component of concrete is cement, which, along with water, is the binding agent for sand and gravel. When limestone is processed to produce cement, large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) are released. About 0.7 tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere for every ton of cement. About a third of this is due to the high energy requirements when cement clinker is burned at up to 1450°C. Overall, cement production is responsible for eight percent of global carbon dioxide emissions – nearly three times global air traffic (2.8 percent).
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