concrete

The Last Word: UTA’s Maria Konsta-Gdoutos on Getting a $1.5M NSF Grant to Turn Concrete Into a Clean Source of Energy

Konsta-Gdoutos is exploring a way to turn one of the world's biggest polluters—concrete, which accounts for at least 8% of global energy-related CO2 emissions—into a source of clean, renewable energy. “We will pioneer TE-CO2NCRETE, a thermoelectric carbon-neutral concrete, that will exhibit a high carbon dioxide uptake potential and storage capacity,” Konsta-Gdoutos said in a statement. “Engineering the nanostructure of concrete also will allow the material to capture thermal energy from the surroundings and convert it into usable electrical energy, leading to the development of a novel technology for renewable electricity and higher efficiency power source.”
MORE
UT Arlington Researcher Takes a Page From Ancient Romans to Reinvent Concrete
by | Oct 6, 2022
UT Arlington civil engineering researcher Warda Ashraf is looking to the past to create a concrete-like material for the future—one that could reduce the carbon emissions created by today's construction industry. The ancient Romans used volcanic ash to make structures that still stand today. With $747,000 in DARPA funding, Ashraf's team found a workable substitute—super-heated clay hydrated with lime and seawater—and is preparing to test it in the Corpus Christi Bay area. “We have the recipe. We tested that in the laboratory," Ashraf told Dallas Innovates. "Now, let's put it in the field and see what happens.”
MORE
Park(ing) Day
Public Spaces: Scenes from Park(ing) Day Dallas 2018
by | Sep 21, 2018
Tiny temporary parks lined Main Street in downtown Dallas and photographer Michael Samples has the shots.
MORE