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Used coffee grounds were charred at 350 degrees Celsius until they became a charcoal-like biochar. That material replaced 15 percent of the sand by volume in a concrete mix (scienceblog.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/environment@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 27 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Sand is a big problem because we are slowly running out of it. And transporting suitable sand takes a lot of ressources, minimizing the use is good.
Plus why can't we tackle two problems at once?

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  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

    The greater point I'm getting at is whatever aggregate you use to make more concrete, making the concrete with Portland is still 8 percent of CO2 emissions. You can protect local environments and maintain concrete production, but what use is that when you're cooking the planet with the concrete in the first place? Gotta stop liberating the CO2 from rocks, not green wash it.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (5 children)

    Uh, more than half of the earth's crust is made from silica.

    How are we running out?

    Coffee grounds are better used in compost. Less work and takes advantage of its actual content.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (4 children)
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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    That article is sensationalist.

    The wrong "shape". That is a misnomer and only matters to some applications. And even that is easily overcome by an added manufacturing step that would arguably be a lot easier than collecting/baking coffee grounds.

    The silica is not going anywhere. In concrete and silicone, it is recapturable and re-usable.

    Add on to that, the amount of used coffee grounds don't even come close to making any impact at all.

    Sure you can replace 15% of sand, in a mix, with these grounds, but good luck finding enough grounds to even cover that for one building.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Should I trust BBC or a random dude from the internet? It’s a hard choice.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I don't give a shit if you trust me or not.

    You shouldn't depend on either of us. If it's important to you, do your own fuckin research.

    Someone shows up that disagrees and your like, "I don't know who to believe!"

    FFS, you are part of the problem. Grow a fucking spine.

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