if I were to ask you to guess what the
most commonly used material was on our
planet some of you would probably say
water and you’d be right
but if I were to ask you what you
thought was the second most commonly
used material in our planet you might
think timber or plastic or even steel so
you’ll probably be surprised when I tell
you that it is in fact concrete today I
would like to talk to you about how we
make this concrete the impact that this
is having on our planet and how advances
in digital technologies are helping us
to find more sustainable alternatives
concrete a mixture of cement water and
gravel has been the foundation on which
our cities and infrastructures have been
built for over 3,000 years
concrete is durable it’s flexible and
it’s strong this year alone the Portland
Cement Association estimate that we will
produce over 4 billion tons of cement
globally for the production of concrete
so what’s the problem the problem is
finite natural resources the problem is
acidification of our oceans the problem
is climate change for every ton of
cement that we produce through the
crushing heating and grinding of
limestone over three-quarters of a ton
of carbon dioxide is released into our
planet’s atmosphere this will equal over
3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide this
year alone the equivalent to the
emissions of 581 million cars that’s all
of the cars in the whole of Europe and
America and China
in order for our planners to process
this volume of carbon dioxide we would
need to plant a forest one and a half
times the size of Ireland so what else
could we do we can look to history for a
solution for over 3,000 years
iron was produced through a similar
process of crushing and heating of ore
then with the technological advances of
the Industrial Revolution particularly
in the areas of chemistry and physics a
new process evolved which allowed for
the mass production of the
high-performance material steel steel
revolutionized the machines that we made
and the cities we built we are now on
the brink of a fourth industrial
revolution a revolution based on digital
technology technologies such as scanning
electron microscopes energy dispersive
x-ray spectroscopy an x-ray diffraction
these allow us to analyze the atomic and
molecular nano structures of materials
which predict their strength and
chemical performance these tools are
allowing us to produce the next
generation of ultra-high performance
materials materials such as graphene
carbon nanotubes and the focus of my
research geopolymer geo as in earth poly
many and Myr parts this inorganic
polymer relies on its unique
three-dimensional molecular nano
any Minecrafters in the audience or
families of minecrafters are going to be
familiar with the material obsidian
obsidian is a smooth black material of
unequaled strength and blast resistance
this is an obsidian fortress which my
son Owen has
constructed to protect his minecraft
avatar from the hostile mobs of creepers
and husks and Enderman the geopolymer
obsidian is the number one choice of
this generation of Minecraft engineers
and architects when it comes to
constructing high-performance structures
geopolymer concrete is also the number
one choice of nasa’s space engineers who
are working with companies such as APUs
core to develop robots to 3d print
concrete made with lunar regolith and
Martian sand in order to construct the
first 3d printed space habitations on
the Moon and Mars this is a building
designed by space exploration architects
for the past two and a half years my
research has focused on the development
of a unique ultra high performance
geopolymer concrete made using 96%
industrial by-product and waste
materials this concrete is more fire
resistant more flexible and almost four
times stronger than conventional
concrete it also produces 75% less
carbon dioxide than conventional
concrete this diagram illustrates why
geopolymer concrete is a sustainable
alternative to conventional concrete
conventional concrete is made using
cement and water to bind virgin
aggregate materials such as gravel and
sand taken from quarries riverbeds and
beaches not only does this material rely
on finite natural resources but it also
produces large volumes of carbon dioxide
the geopolymer concrete uses the
byproduct materials of industrial
processes such as water purification
waste incineration and the production of
steel this is combined with waste
materials such as quarry dust
agricultural waste and recycle
construction aggregate
to produce high performance low-impact
concrete like many families my son and I
enjoy watching movies as a parent I am
struck by their diverse visions of the
future which these films portray from
the dystopian vertical stacked trailers
and surveillance drones of ready player
one to the e-coat opium mashup of
skyscrapers Victorian terraced houses
and floating wind turbines of big hero
six what these visions share is the
recognition of how technology will shape
our future where they differ is in how
we choose to apply this technology if we
are to construct comfortable modern
sustainable cities and infrastructure
for the next generation while protecting
our planet’s natural environments we
must use these technologies together
with the knowledge we have acquired
about how human activity is impacting on
our planet we must move from our current
model of take make and dispose to a more
sustainable circular model of make use
and recycle the high-performance
low-impact geopolymer concrete is one of
the ways in which we can do this thank you
most commonly used material was on our
planet some of you would probably say
water and you’d be right
but if I were to ask you what you
thought was the second most commonly
used material in our planet you might
think timber or plastic or even steel so
you’ll probably be surprised when I tell
you that it is in fact concrete today I
would like to talk to you about how we
make this concrete the impact that this
is having on our planet and how advances
in digital technologies are helping us
to find more sustainable alternatives
concrete a mixture of cement water and
gravel has been the foundation on which
our cities and infrastructures have been
built for over 3,000 years
concrete is durable it’s flexible and
it’s strong this year alone the Portland
Cement Association estimate that we will
produce over 4 billion tons of cement
globally for the production of concrete
so what’s the problem the problem is
finite natural resources the problem is
acidification of our oceans the problem
is climate change for every ton of
cement that we produce through the
crushing heating and grinding of
limestone over three-quarters of a ton
of carbon dioxide is released into our
planet’s atmosphere this will equal over
3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide this
year alone the equivalent to the
emissions of 581 million cars that’s all
of the cars in the whole of Europe and
America and China
in order for our planners to process
this volume of carbon dioxide we would
need to plant a forest one and a half
times the size of Ireland so what else
could we do we can look to history for a
solution for over 3,000 years
iron was produced through a similar
process of crushing and heating of ore
then with the technological advances of
the Industrial Revolution particularly
in the areas of chemistry and physics a
new process evolved which allowed for
the mass production of the
high-performance material steel steel
revolutionized the machines that we made
and the cities we built we are now on
the brink of a fourth industrial
revolution a revolution based on digital
technology technologies such as scanning
electron microscopes energy dispersive
x-ray spectroscopy an x-ray diffraction
these allow us to analyze the atomic and
molecular nano structures of materials
which predict their strength and
chemical performance these tools are
allowing us to produce the next
generation of ultra-high performance
materials materials such as graphene
carbon nanotubes and the focus of my
research geopolymer geo as in earth poly
many and Myr parts this inorganic
polymer relies on its unique
three-dimensional molecular nano
any Minecrafters in the audience or
families of minecrafters are going to be
familiar with the material obsidian
obsidian is a smooth black material of
unequaled strength and blast resistance
this is an obsidian fortress which my
son Owen has
constructed to protect his minecraft
avatar from the hostile mobs of creepers
and husks and Enderman the geopolymer
obsidian is the number one choice of
this generation of Minecraft engineers
and architects when it comes to
constructing high-performance structures
geopolymer concrete is also the number
one choice of nasa’s space engineers who
are working with companies such as APUs
core to develop robots to 3d print
concrete made with lunar regolith and
Martian sand in order to construct the
first 3d printed space habitations on
the Moon and Mars this is a building
designed by space exploration architects
for the past two and a half years my
research has focused on the development
of a unique ultra high performance
geopolymer concrete made using 96%
industrial by-product and waste
materials this concrete is more fire
resistant more flexible and almost four
times stronger than conventional
concrete it also produces 75% less
carbon dioxide than conventional
concrete this diagram illustrates why
geopolymer concrete is a sustainable
alternative to conventional concrete
conventional concrete is made using
cement and water to bind virgin
aggregate materials such as gravel and
sand taken from quarries riverbeds and
beaches not only does this material rely
on finite natural resources but it also
produces large volumes of carbon dioxide
the geopolymer concrete uses the
byproduct materials of industrial
processes such as water purification
waste incineration and the production of
steel this is combined with waste
materials such as quarry dust
agricultural waste and recycle
construction aggregate
to produce high performance low-impact
concrete like many families my son and I
enjoy watching movies as a parent I am
struck by their diverse visions of the
future which these films portray from
the dystopian vertical stacked trailers
and surveillance drones of ready player
one to the e-coat opium mashup of
skyscrapers Victorian terraced houses
and floating wind turbines of big hero
six what these visions share is the
recognition of how technology will shape
our future where they differ is in how
we choose to apply this technology if we
are to construct comfortable modern
sustainable cities and infrastructure
for the next generation while protecting
our planet’s natural environments we
must use these technologies together
with the knowledge we have acquired
about how human activity is impacting on
our planet we must move from our current
model of take make and dispose to a more
sustainable circular model of make use
and recycle the high-performance
low-impact geopolymer concrete is one of
the ways in which we can do this thank you
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