Can Rice Make Concrete Green?

World cement production is adding an alarming amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Cement, used for producing concrete, is also increasing in use as nations continue to develop. It is estimated that approximately five percent of all carbon dioxide emissions are from cement production.

For every ton of cement, approximately one ton of carbon dioxide is produced. In order to reduce the emissions, companies are trying to find alternatives. One group is attempting to use rice husk ash as the main source of silicon dioxide, which is a main component in concrete. Concrete has recently become the place for many waste products to be dumped, including slag from steel mills and coal fly ash.

ChK Group, Inc. based in Plano, Texas, is attempting to make rice husk ash. In the past, rice husks have been contemplated as use in concrete but burning it caused it to be too contaminated with carbon. However, the ChK Group, Inc. has discovered a way to make rice husk ash with little carbon. The company accomplishes this by heating the husks to 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit.

The addition of the rice husk ash will make concrete not only greener, but also stronger and more resistant to corrosion. The company thinks that rice husk ash could replace approximately twenty percent of cement currently used.

The company hopes to produce 15,000 tons of rice husk ash each year once they begin production. If all rice husks in the United States were used in this manner, 2.1 million tons of ash could be produced each year. The company indicated that this statistic would be even higher in developing nations such as China and India, who also grow a great deal of rice.