Bio-fabricated Concrete and Bricks
As you will hopefully realise from reading the title this is not my area…
I was actually listening to a TEDtalk (click to listen!) the other day that put me onto this that discussed more general the uses of bio-fabrication across pretty much every industry from medical to fashion to construction.
The speaker mentioned bio-fabricated bricks and concrete. The benefits come for both the sustainability/climate change perspective and the actual properties of the brick. The cement industry currently contributes 8% of all global CO2 emissions – more than all planes and ships each year. Cement and bricks also require high temperatures to be produced, bio-fabricated bricks and concrete are created at room temperature in a couple of days. These concrete bricks are also nearly 3 times stronger than tradition fired bricks. Finally, these bricks then store more carbon than they produce.
If all 1.2 trillion fired bricks that are currently produced annually were replaced with bio-bricks, we would reduce CO2 emissions by 800 million tons a year.
After hearing this I had a short research into it and found that the US Air Force is using the same company, BioMason, to look at building runways with the same principle, article here. Essentially meaning a high quality runway can be built anywhere in the world in a relatively short time with minimal equipment.
Has anyone seen or heard anything about these bio-fabricated materials? The information I have read is obviously biased, does anyone have any info that argues against?
Also I recommend TEDtalks in general, they aren’t focused on construction or military, but I personally find them all very interesting. Spotify now has TEDtalks Daily and the TEDtalk Interview.
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Hey Ali, If the US Air Force are looking at using them for expeditionary operations, what sort of logistic chain do they need? Can you get the majority of material locally around the world or are we talking about shipping bricks or the material to make them from home bases?
The aggregate can be found locally, it’s then mixed with bacteria that is then grown around the aggregate to form it into bio concrete. So the logistical chain is the bacteria and the mixing equipment.
Compared to building a runway with concrete I would say it is considerably smaller!
Ali, a neat post and interesting links, thank you.
Firstly I agree that TED talks are a great way of provoking alternative personal reflection. Despite being engineering officers, expansive thought is often under valued but can yield useful third or fourth order deductions. Even if not the case they are a more intelligent way of unfocussing on day to day work demands compared to bingeing on the latest HBO series.
Secondly, bio concrete is definitely an interesting concept that I recall some UK circulation on a few years ago. I will bring this up in conversation with RE expeditionary Air stake holders and also the RE LO in the US.
CI