Solving global warming crisis with waste

IS THERE no end to the ingenuity being deployed in the battle against global warming? A startling new development seems to come forward with every passing month. Scientists at Dundee University are seeking to create an environmentally-friendly new cement made out of used materials including, of all things, rice husks.

Green cement made from rice husks? It opens up the prospect of boil-in-the-bag buildings and paving stones liable to turn mushy in the rain. But if there is natural waste going spare that can help to solve one of the world's biggest problems, why not give it a try? Producing cement dust is thought to account for about 5 per cent of global emissions.

Now a specialist concrete unit (yes, there is one) at Dundee University aims to reduce carbon emissions in developing countries such as India and China by developing a new way of making cement. They are turning to waste materials, which have already been burnt, to mix with the concrete and so reduce burning time. Rice husks can be burnt to make silica to mix with the cement.

What lies beyond? Can there be any limits to what researchers may find? Perhaps a startling new use for potato peelings, or a dramatic breakthrough in the recycling of tea leaves could turn our everyday kitchen waste into a transformational solution to global warming.