Introduction [to "Handbook of advances in alkali-activated concrete"]

Abstract

This chapter starts by reviewing crucial facts about the climate emergency, resource efficiency, and the circular economy in order to provide a context for the contribution of alkali-activated concrete just because since Humanity is living on borrowed time then classic narrowed approaches are no longer the most effective, nor are they even effective anymore. Every year the world economy uses more than 100,000 million tonnes of natural resources. Of that gargantuan consumption 67,000 million tonnes are transformed into atmospheric pollution or became solid waste and only 8,400 million tones are reused which means each year around 27,000 million tonnes are disposed of. Population growth will further increase resource consumption and waste generation meaning that increasing amounts of waste reuse must be tackled. Alkali-activated concrete has paramount importance in that context because it can recycle a high amount of industrial wastes. And that is why a change in the terminology used for categorizing these materials is necessary. One that gives visibility to the high recycling features of these materials and that helps its wide acceptance and application by the construction industry. Furthermore, the moment that Governments all over the world finally decide to put up in place high taxes on the extraction of virgin raw materials (like the ones that already exist in some Nordic countries) thus benefiting materials that can recycle a high waste content then alkali-activated concrete mixtures could finally gain a cost-competitive edge over Portland cement concrete based mixtures. The chapter includes a brief review on recent alkali-activated concrete developments. An outline of the book is also included