Cement. (Do I get points for the least likely word to start a post?)
Concrete is now the most widely used material on Earth, apparently. (How do they measure this?!)
And chemically processing the main raw material for concrete - cement - releases a lot of carbon dioxide. So, much of the CO2 emitted in modern societies comes from the production of concrete, and it’s considered a difficult ‘abatement’ problem because you can’t use anything other than cement in concrete production.
But, people are working on it! From changes in the specific kind of limestone used for the cement, to several changes in the production process, to carbon capture and storage, there are smart people figuring it out. California is, as is often the case, leading the way. The Governor signed an act this year to make concrete a net zero material by no later than 2045.
This is definitely not easy, but one important aspect of ensuring that innovative changes can occur is to make the transportation and construction industries consider performance-based metrics for their materials rather than prescriptive requirements. In other words, a construction code could say something like: ‘the foundation needs to be a certain percentage of concrete and your concrete needs a certain percentage of cement of this sort’ (prescriptive), or it could say ‘the material in the building’s foundation needs to meet this level of strength and durability’ (performance). These are made-up examples of course, but you get the point.
A few years ago, I was at a meeting of the International Codes Council (I know, right? Exciting life I lead), and this was an important topic of conversation with respect to climate adaptation (reducing damage from a changing climate) and for climate mitigation (carbon reduction). They are hoping to move more towards performance vs prescription without lowering any safety standards of course.
Making sure our materials are ‘fit for purpose’ shouldn’t mean we have to predetermine the materials or the make-up of those materials to get the job done. It sounds so simple, but it really could allow major changes to occur.
Seriously, I think the way we solve climate change might be more about some of these kinds of changes than it is about new tech. Shifting the way we think about and approach a problem or a behavior or a habit or an outcome can make all the difference.