本文转自《CNN Money》发表的题为“This concrete (yes, concrete) is going high-tech”的报道。
作者：Bronte Lord
日期：2018.07.06
原文链接：https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/12/technology/concrete-carboncure/index.html?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Product+Stewards
Concrete is the most abundant man-made material on earth. There's a good chance you're standing on it right now, and it's holding up the buildings around you.
混凝土是地球上最丰富的人造材料。 你现在很有可能站在它上面，它挡住了你周围的建筑物。
But concrete has an emissions problem. Its essential ingredient, cement, has a huge carbon footprint.
但混凝土存在碳排放问题。 它的基本成分水泥具有巨大的碳含量。
Cement is the glue that makes concrete strong, but the process of making cement requires superheating calcium carbonate, or limestone, and releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
水泥是使混凝土变得坚固的胶水，但制造水泥的过程需要过热碳酸钙或石灰石，并向大气中释放大量的二氧化碳。
Cement is responsible for 7% of global man-made greenhouse emissions, making it the world's second largest industrial source of carbon dioxide, according to the International Energy Agency. Data from the United States Geological Survey -- the scientific agency of the US government -- reveals that global cement production was responsible for about 4 billion pounds of CO2 emissions in 2017 alone.
据国际能源署（International Energy Agency）称，水泥占全球人造温室气体排放量的7％，使其成为世界第二大二氧化碳工业来源。 来自美国地质调查局（美国政府的科学机构）的数据显示，仅2017年全球水泥生产就造成了约40亿磅的二氧化碳排放量。
But a Canadian startup has invented a new system for making concrete that traps CO2 emissions forever and at the same time reduces the need for cement.
但是，一家加拿大初创公司发明了一种新的混凝土系统，可以永久地捕集二氧化碳排放，同时减少对水泥的需求。
CarbonCure's system takes captured CO2 and injects it into concrete as it's being mixed. Once the concrete hardens, that carbon is sequestered forever. Even if the building is torn down, the carbon stays put. That's because it reacts with the concrete and becomes a mineral.
CarbonCure的系统采集捕获的二氧化碳，并在混合时将其注入混凝土中。 一旦混凝土硬化，碳就永远被隔离。 即使建筑物被拆除，碳仍然存在。 那是因为它与混凝土反应并变成矿物质。
CarbonCure's system takes CO2 and injects it into concrete as it's being mixed.
CarbonCure的系统吸收二氧化碳并将其注入混凝土中。
"The best thing about it is the mineral itself improves the compressive strength of the concrete," Christie Gamble, the director of sustainability at CarbonCure, told CNNMoney.
“最好的事情是矿物本身可以提高混凝土的抗压强度，”CarbonCure可持续发展总监Christie Gamble告诉CNNMoney杂志。
"Because the CO2 actually helps to make the concrete stronger, concrete producers can still make concrete as strong as they need to but use less cement in the process."
“因为二氧化碳实际上有助于使混凝土更坚固，所以混凝土生产商仍然可以根据需要制造出坚固的混凝土，但在此过程中使用较少的水泥。”
And using less cement is how producers can really reduce emissions.
减少水泥的使用是生产商减少碳排放的真正途径。
Atlanta-based Thomas Concrete, a concrete producer, has been using CarbonCure's system since 2016. Thomas Concrete says it has since prevented 10 million pounds of CO2 emissions.
总部位于亚特兰大的混凝土生产商Thomas Concrete自2016年以来一直在使用CarbonCure的系统。Thomas Concrete表示，它已经阻止了1000万磅的二氧化碳排放。
Justin Lazenby, a manager of technical operations at Thomas Concrete, said the move toward greener tech is a long-term decision the concrete industry should embrace.
Thomas Concrete的技术运营经理Justin Lazenby表示，向更环保的技术转变是具体行业应该接受的长期决策。
A cylinder of CarbonCure concrete after undergoing a strength test.
一种经过强度测试的碳化混凝土圆筒。
"The industry as a whole has always kind of looked at trying to solve today's problems with yesterday's technology, which doesn't really work," he said.
他说：“整个行业总是试图用昨天的技术来解决今天的问题，而这种问题并没有真正发挥作用。”
Thomas Concrete pays to use CarbonCure and buys captured CO2 from a fertilizer plant where it's emitted, but the company says those costs even out with what they save by using less cement.
Thomas混凝土公司支付使用CarbonCure的费用并从其排放的化肥厂购买二氧化碳，但该公司表示，这些成本甚至可以通过减少使用水泥来节省成本。
"We understand that to make environment impact, you have to make business sense," Gamble said.
“我们理解，为了对环境产生影响，你必须具备商业意义，”Gamble说。
CarbonCure's technology utilizes CO2 that would otherwise be a waste product from factories. Finding uses for captured CO2 is an economically-friendly way of incentivizing companies to capture their emissions.
CarbonCure的技术利用二氧化碳，否则二氧化碳将成为工厂的废物。寻找捕获的二氧化碳的用途是一种经济上有利于激励公司捕获其排放的方式。
"We're leading that movement right now [by] showing it is possible to take CO2 and turn it into something that makes financial sense," Gamble said. "This concept of beneficial reuse of CO2 is expected to be a one trillion dollar industry by the year 2030."
“我们现在正在引领这一运动[通过]表明可以吸收二氧化碳并将其变成具有经济意义的东西，”Gamble说。 “到2030年，这种有益的二氧化碳再利用概念预计将是一万亿美元的产业。”
A new mixed-use development in one of Atlanta's trendiest neighborhoods, called 725 Ponce, is a real-life example of the impact of building with greener concrete. When it opens in 2019, it will become the largest structure ever made with CarbonCure concrete.
在亚特兰大最时尚的街区之一，名为725庞塞的一个新的混合用途开发项目是建筑与绿色混凝土的影响的现实例子。当它于2019年开放时，它将成为有史以来用CarbonCure混凝土制造的最大结构。
Construction is underway at 725 Ponce in Atlanta
亚特兰大的725 Ponce正在建设中。
Ultimately, the 360,000 sq. ft. office building, which will have a Kroger supermarket on the first floor, will save 1.5 million pounds in CO2 from being released into the air -- the same amount 800 acres of forest would sequester in a year, according to Gamble.
最终，位于一楼的Kroger超市占地360,000平方英尺的办公楼，可以节省150万磅二氧化碳排放到空气中 - 相同数量的800英亩森林将在一年内封存， 据Gamble说。
The building is a step in the right direction, but CarbonCure is far from widespread adoption. Right now, only 90 concrete plants in the US and Canada are using their technology -- a small fraction of the estimated 5,500 plants in the US alone.
该建筑是朝着正确方向迈出的一步，但CarbonCure远未得到广泛采用。 目前，美国和加拿大只有90家混凝土工厂正在使用他们的技术 - 仅在美国估计的5500家工厂中只占一小部分。
CarbonCure isn't the only company working to make concrete more environmentally friendly, but it's one of the first to market. Carbicrete and Carbon Upcycling are two other startups working on more sustainable solutions for concrete.
CarbonCure并不是唯一一家致力于使混凝土更加环保的公司，但它是最早推向市场的公司之一。 Carbicrete和Carbon Upcycling是另外两家致力于提高混凝土可持续性解决方案的初创公司。
Gregg Lewis, executive vice president of strategy for the National Ready-Mix Concrete Association, said these types of technologies will help push the concrete industry toward a more sustainable future.
国家预拌混凝土协会战略执行副总裁Gregg Lewis表示，这些类型的技术将有助于推动混凝土行业走向更加可持续的未来。
"[It will] offer a huge advantage to how we build as an industry," he said.
“它将为我们建立一个行业提供巨大的优势，”他说。
CarbonCure's Gamble noted if the industry is able to reduce 5% of its carbon footprint, that is a significant change from where it is right now.
CarbonCure的Gamble指出，如果该行业能够减少5％的碳足迹，那么这是一个重大的变化。
"If this technology is deployed across the globe, we could reduce about 700 megatons of CO2 each year. That's the same as taking 150 million cars off the road every year," Gamble said.
“如果这项技术在全球范围内部署，我们每年可以减少约700兆吨的二氧化碳。这与每年减少1.5亿辆汽车相同，”Gamble说。
Although concrete isn't going away anytime soon, it appears there is room to make all that grey a bit greener.
虽然混凝土不会很快消失，但似乎还有空间让所有的灰色更加绿色。
"Everytime I see concrete being made, I see it as a missed opportunity to save CO2 emissions," Gamble added. "Maybe it will take 20 years; maybe it will take 50 years. Maybe something crazy will happen and it will happen in five years. But we're starting to see that process."
“每当我看到具体制造时，我都认为这是一个节省二氧化碳排放的错失机会，”Gamble补充说。 “也许它需要20年;也许需要50年。也许会发生一些疯狂的事情，它将在五年内发生。但我们开始看到这个过程。”
