A study has shown that certain environmental bacteria strains are effective ingredients in making biocement, a more eco-friendly alternative to highly polluting cement.
Dimitrios Terzis is the study's lead author, a senior scientist at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, and a co-founder of Medusoil. The company produces organic binders and opened a production facility in 2024, according to an EPFL news release.
Medusoil's organic binders are similar to biocement, and Terzis is always exploring new opportunities, saying, "For me, it's essential to keep conducting fundamental research."
Cement manufacturing is a major culprit in planet-warming emissions, sending nearly 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2022. This was about 8% of the world's total output, according to the World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum reported that cement is the second most widely used material after water, making the search for eco-friendly alternatives a valuable endeavor financially and environmentally.
Terzis worked with scientists from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland to analyze 50 bacterial strains that were sourced from nearby farmland in Ticino canton.
The area is used for grazing dairy cattle, and its soil is rich in calcium, making it ideal for the company's biocement production, according to the news release. Microorganisms secrete an enzyme that can trigger the formation of carbonate, which binds with calcium to form calcite, a natural cement.
This microbial-induced calcite precipitation process, which was triggered by a specifically useful microorganism, succeeded in the biocementation of a roughly five-foot pillar of sand that was successful enough to stabilize it under its own weight.
"This research lays the groundwork for scalable MICP production, which is capable of meeting the demands of real-world building and geoenvironmental projects," wrote the authors in the abstract to the study.
Medusoil's organic binders have a carbon impact that's at least 55% lower than standard cement, and their potential ranges from building applications to geotechnical projects, such as reinforcing riverbanks to prevent erosion.
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Would you live in a home made of bacteria? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Absolutely 🦠 While these new biocement alternatives explore scaling up to industrial level, existing cement industries are looking to new processes in an attempt to stem their planet-heating pollution problem.
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is a reduction effort that the Global Cement and Concrete Association said can reduce the industry's emissions by 36%, per the World Economic Forum. Other research is exploring greener additives to reduce reliance on traditional cement, while circular economy proponents see hope in recycling old building materials.
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