Coal waste used to create sustainable concrete

Scientists have created a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete using coal fly ash, a waste product of coal-based electricity generation. The advance tackles two major environmental problems at once by making use of coal production waste and by significantly reducing the environmental impact of concrete production. The strong, durable concrete uses fly ash as a binder and eliminates the use of environmentally intensive cement, according to researchers from Washington State University (WSU) in the US. Production of traditional concrete, which is made by combining cement with sand and gravel, contributes between five and eight percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. That is because cement, the key ingredient in concrete, requires high temperatures and a tremendous amount of energy to produce.