Effect of normal, blended and geopolymer concrete on ecosystem

Abstract

Though cement concrete has an omnipresence its sustainability is a concerning subject due to the carbon dioxide emissions stemming from cement production resulting in research work to find lesser polluting alternatives. A blended concrete made with partial cement replacement by pozzolans as well as a geo-polymer concrete made with partial or full cement replacement is the choice at the current setting. However, there still exists a huge knowledge gap on the ecological benefits obtained by using these alternatives combining various materials for cement replacement for the production of concrete for paver blocks. The concrete used in preparing paver blocks are different from normal structural concretes reason being large quantity of fine aggregate requirement to satisfy codal provisions. Based on a comparative analysis of the life-cycle in a cradle-to-gate approach between traditional cement concrete (TCC), blended concrete (BC) and geo-polymer concrete with fly ash and sugarcane bagasse ash (GPCBA) this study compiles and presents results on Aquatic ecotoxicity (AEC), Aquatic acidification (AA), Aquatic eutrophication (AE), Terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE) and Terrestrial acid (TA) impact categories in addition to mostly reported traits like Global Warming (GW) and Ozone Layer Depletion (OLD). The study showed that a paver block of TCC is more detrimental as compared to other sustainable forms of concrete by almost 40%. The introduction of fly ash in BC reduced the burden of TCC but marginally. A numerical co-relationship showed that GW and OLD were directly inter linked.