Last year, Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Program, noted that 80 percent of the construction industry is powered by fossil fuels, which generate significant CO2 emissions. A study by the International Energy Agency (IEA) also points to the same.

Reducing the carbon footprint of cement-based building materials is also crucial under the Paris Climate Agreement (Greendeal), which has been ratified by the vast majority of the world.

The University of Oregon, together with Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a cutting-edge technique to capture harmful emissions and sequester them (bind them) using 3D cement printing. The groundbreaking project has already received a $540,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The essence of the proposed technology lies in capturing carbon dioxide from emissions and containing it in the mineralized form of 3D-printed building materials so that the gas cannot harm the environment.

Can the development become a full-fledged alternative to classic cement? The most common cement in the world, known as Portland cement, is almost 200 years old, but it is still the main binder used in concrete.

Such cement is produced by extracting, grinding and heating clay and limestone in industrial furnaces to high temperatures, which changes the chemical composition of the material and creates the main component, clinker, which generates large amounts of carbon dioxide.

In turn, 3D-printed cement is much more environmentally friendly and more durable due to the retention of carbon in its structure.

Therefore, in the near future, the research team plans to use the grant to create a test plant to capture CO2. The donor of this gas will be lime and cement production, the carbon from which will be trapped in the printing of the cement and mineralized in the printed building components.

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