One of the largest contributors of the greenhouse gas emission is the production of cement for use in concrete. However, concrete is well-known for its carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) uptake by carbonation. The purpose of this study was to consider the CO 2 uptake in demolished and crushed concrete. In this study, three kinds of experiments and survey were carried out, including (1) an experiment using mortar specimens made in the laboratory so as to identify the conditions that accelerate CO 2 uptake, (2) an experiment using concrete obtained from the demolition site and (3) a survey on the CO 2 uptake in recycled crusher-run stone obtained from recycling plants. The experiment on new mortar and demolished concrete pointed out that the CO 2 uptake in cement hydrate increases significantly when the particles are relatively small and when they are alternately wetted and dried. Furthermore, the survey on concrete at recycling plants found the amount of CO 2 uptake in one ton of recycled crusher-run stone to be approximately 11 kilograms. Finally, using this value, the life cycle of CO 2 of concrete structures was calculated and shown to be approximately 5.5% less when the CO 2 uptake is taken into account compared to when it is not taken into account.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.