Here’s something that, if it works, would be great to use to line the streets of smoggy cities. The University of Twente has possibly figured out a way to get paving stones to scrub the air, turning nitrogen oxide into a harmless nitrate that can wash away with rain.
The secret is in the sauce, so to speak – titanium dioxide is mixed with the concrete which catalyzes chemical reactions with light exposure. So when sun hits the bricks, the nitrogen oxide (mainly from car exhaust) is turned into nitrates. And then when the rain comes down, the nitrates are washed away with the dust. The university claims the nitrates are harmless, so we wouldn’t run the risk of having just another form of toxin like we do with nitrates from heavy fertilization.
Testing will be going on this year with some preliminary results by next year that will show the effectiveness of the paving stones. Should the stones pull the trick, this could be a pretty cool breakthrough in green construction materials. Especially if cleaner methods of concrete manufacturing is used, since concrete is pretty CO2 intensive to create. Perhaps we’ll even see them in more green housing communities.
Provided by ecogeek.org
The secret is in the sauce, so to speak – titanium dioxide is mixed with the concrete which catalyzes chemical reactions with light exposure. So when sun hits the bricks, the nitrogen oxide (mainly from car exhaust) is turned into nitrates. And then when the rain comes down, the nitrates are washed away with the dust. The university claims the nitrates are harmless, so we wouldn’t run the risk of having just another form of toxin like we do with nitrates from heavy fertilization.
Testing will be going on this year with some preliminary results by next year that will show the effectiveness of the paving stones. Should the stones pull the trick, this could be a pretty cool breakthrough in green construction materials. Especially if cleaner methods of concrete manufacturing is used, since concrete is pretty CO2 intensive to create. Perhaps we’ll even see them in more green housing communities.
Provided by ecogeek.org
No comments:
Post a Comment