Engineers Just Made Concrete 30% Stronger. The Secret Ingredient? Coffee. - eviltoast
  • JWBananas@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    For anyone who came here without reading the article to comment about the impending effects of climate change on coffee yields, do note that this proposes using spent (i.e. already used) coffee grounds. SCG currently end up in landfills and eventually get turned into carbon dioxide and methane.

    • anon6789@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      The article they link about pyrolysis is worth a read too. The main source of CO2 emissions from cement production is cooking down limestone into lime IIRC. I was curious how much energy is used to turn the biomass into the end product and what waste is generated. It’s a bit too detailed for me to understand, but the process ends up with 15-25% biochar (the stuff they’re promoting in this article), some potentially useful byproducts, and some regular combustion pollution.

    • I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I worked on some undergrad research examining the potential to use spent coffee grounds for biodiesel. SCG has residual oil that can be extracted and refined. I wonder if this could be combined with biochar, getting multiple commodities from a waste product.

    • Sundray@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      I guess this means I’ll need yet another, different colored wastebin just for coffee now. I mean I’ll do it if it helps, but I can only fit so many receptacles in my kitchen. Meh, I’ll just put the rest in the twins’ room.