UK scientists developed a way to produce low carbon cement 英國科學傢研究出低排放再生水泥的方法

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Concrete is everywhere, but it is very polluting.

混凝土無處不在，但生產這種建材造成的污染卻非常嚴重。

Making the cement that binds it all together produces lots of CO2.

制造水泥這種用於粘合混凝土的材料會產生大量的二氧化碳。

A team from Cambridge University have a plan to sidestep all of that polluting chemistry by reactivating this stuff: used cement.

劍橋大學的一個研究小組找到瞭一個方法，可以避免那些在生產水泥過程中產生的污染化學物質：重熔廢水泥。

Now it has been done before in cement kilns.

雖然人們以前用過這種方法在水泥窯中生產混凝土。

The Cambridge breakthrough was to realise they could piggyback on another heavy industry: steel recycling.

但劍橋大學取得的突破在於他們意識到可以借助另一個重工業的力量：鋼鐵回收。

The electric arc furnaces used for steel recycling are hot enough and can be powered with renewable energy.

用於回收鋼鐵的電弧爐內的溫度可以熔水泥，電弧爐本身可以靠可再生能源供電。

And the composition of used cement is almost exactly the same as chemicals steelmakers add to their furnaces to stop impurities.

廢水泥的成分與鋼鐵制造商添加到電弧爐中去雜質的化學物質幾乎完全相同。

So using it instead could cut costs and reduce emissions for steelmakers too. But will the process work?

因此，使用廢水泥還可以降低鋼鐵制造商的生產成本、減少碳排放。但這種方法能產出水泥嗎？

Dr Cyrille Dunant, University of Cambridge
“That’s the first sample of low carbon Portland cement produced in an electric arc furnace, ever, ever. “

西裡爾·杜南特博士英國劍橋大學
“我手中拿的是低碳波特蘭水泥的第一個樣本，在電弧爐內生產出來的。”

Justin Rowlatt, AYYBLOG reporter
“So, this is a world first.”

賈斯汀·羅拉特 AYYBLOG 通訊員
“所以，這是世界第一個低碳水泥樣本。”

Dr Cyrille Dunant, University of Cambridge
“This is a world first.”

西裡爾·杜南特博士英國劍橋大學
“這就是首個樣本。”

He believes it could mark the beginning of a revolution.

杜南特博士認為這個樣本可能標志著一場產業變革的開端。

Dr Cyrille Dunant, University of Cambridge
“If you can make the cement with no carbon, that means we can keep on living with all the stuff we expect. It’s quite important to be able to make cement with no carbon in the future.”

西裡爾·杜南特博士英國劍橋大學
“如果你能制造出零碳排放的水泥，那就意味著我們可以延續現有的生活方式，並繼續使用我們習以為常的事物。未來重要的是能制造零排放的水泥。”

The first full-scale trials will be in Cardiff later this week. The hope is this low carbon cement could meet up to a quarter of UK demand.

這個新方法的首次全面試驗將於本周晚些時候在英國卡迪夫進行。研究人員希望這種低排放水泥在未來能滿足英國水泥需求的四分之一。

And because so much steel is now recycled, the process could be rolled out all over the world, massively reducing emissions from one of the world’s most polluting materials.

由於現在鋼鐵回收量很高，這種低排放再生水泥的生產方法可以在世界各地推廣，從而大大減少造成污染最嚴重材料之一——水泥的制造過程中所產生的碳排放。