Concrete and bricks are the main materials used in the construction of buildings and homes.
And concrete contributes 8% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide and is the second most highly consumed product in the world, after water.
What if there was an alternative that uses a waste product and has a carbon footprint substantially less than bricks and concrete?
What if bricks were made from sugarcane?
A partnership between the University of East London and Grimshaw Architecture Studio has brought this innovation from concept to reality. Sugarcrete uses bagasse, the waste product from sugarcane to create the bricks.
Supply of bagasse is plentiful.
The Sugarcrete team says that “using only 30 percent of the world bagasse production, Sugarcrete could replace the traditional brick industry entirely, offering a potential saving of 1.08 billion tonnes of CO2, three per cent of the global CO2 production."
The research behind this product is available for all to see as the Sugarcrete team hopes that this will help with the adoption of this planet friendly alternative.
Innovation and generosity will lead us forward to finding and implementing solutions to reduce the impacts of climate change.