<aside> 🏗️ Greener materials and cleaner industrial processes are needed to reduce emissions in buildings and construction. Buildings currently contribute to 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions with operational carbon (27%) (daily use emissions and embodied carbon (10%), related to construction, maintenance, and demolition.
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Mycocrete, an innovative substance, has been crafted by scientists using mycelium, the root structure of fungi, to serve as a construction medium. Through the infusion of mycocrete into an interwoven textile matrix, a novel composite material is formed. This material surpasses the strength and adaptability of prior biomaterials originating from fungi. Ultimately, it holds the potential to revolutionize the creation of environmentally friendly lightweight edifices.
These common building materials are the focus of a surprising amount of innovation. All the numbers you need to understand why cement is an important player in our progress to NetZero.
New research showing that working with abandoned resource extraction sites could help alleviate some of the scarcity of materials for the energy transition. Zhongwen Bao et al. ,Extracting resources from abandoned mines. Science381,731-732(2023). DOI:10.1126/science.abn5962
Extracting resources from abandoned mines
Reducing the need for critical materials will also be important for supply chain sustainability, resilience and security. Accelerating innovation can help, such as through advanced battery technologies requiring smaller quantities of critical minerals, as well as measures to support uptake of vehicle models with optimised battery size and the development of battery recycling.
Trends in batteries – Global EV Outlook 2023 – Analysis - IEA
Removing trash from ocean garbage patches may have unintended consequences for delicate marine creatures. Ocean garbage patches, formed by strong ocean currents far from land, are home to various species that live on the ocean surface and are killed the debris is removed through surface skimming. The largest garbage patch, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, contains high concentrations of floating species such as blue button jellies, by-the-wind sailors, and violet snails, which are important for the ocean's ecosystem and serve as food for predators. Cleaning up these patches through surface skimming presents major problems, similar to unintended bycatch in fishing. Reducing plastic waste at its source is the more effective long-term solution to this problem.