Green Friendly Bricks

 

Using fly ash to makes bricks results in a strong, lightweight building material that could generate a thriving new "green" industry for countries such as China and India. Coal-burning power plants spend millions of dollars disposing of waste fly ash, a fine powder loaded with toxic chemicals.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia have developed bricks and building aggregate that can be manufactured entirely from waste fly ash. The result is a strong, lightweight building material that they believe could generate a thriving new “green” industry for countries such as China and India. Coal-burning power plants spend millions of dollars disposing of waste fly ash, a fine powder loaded with toxic chemicals. An estimated 200 million tons of the byproduct is generated in China each year, much of it is sent to waste disposal sites on increasingly scarce land and it is also responsible for serious air and water pollution. In India about 100 million tons of fly ash is generated each year. The Indian Government passed a law in October 2005 stating that a minimum of 25 percent of fly ash must be used in the manufacture of clay bricks for use in construction activities within a 100-mile radius of coal burning thermal power plants. There are also restrictions on the excavation of topsoil for the manufacture of bricks. In the Middle East there are very few coal fired power stations and there is an acute shortage of durable building materials because of the lack of suitable clay, aggregate and sand. Karl Shaw, one of the scientists involved, says their unique manufacturing method traps any harmful chemicals, creating an eco-friendly construction material that saves on construction costs and reduces generation of greenhouse gases. They also generate fewer emissions during manufacture as the process uses less fuel than clay Flash Bricks are 28 percent lighter and 24 percent stronger than comparable clay bricks while the aggregate. This results in lighter structures, shallower foundations, cheaper transportation, and less usage of cement and steel reinforcement.

Source: Green Building Press