Hmmm… concrete that eats pollution. That’s pretty slick if you ask me.
The results so far are astonishing: A street in the town of Segrate, near Milan, with an average traffic of 1,000 cars per hour, has been repaved with the compound, “and we have measured a reduction in nitric oxides of around 60%,” says Italcementi’s spokesperson Alberto Ghisalberti. In a test over an 8,000 square meter (or approximately 2 acres) industrial area paved with active blocks near Bergamo, Italcementi’s hometown, the reduction was measured at 45%.
In large cities such as Milan, with persistent pollution problems caused by car emissions, smoke from heating systems, and industrial activities, both the company and outside experts estimate that covering 15% of all visible urban surfaces (painting the walls, repaving the roads) with products containing TX Active could abate pollution by up to 50%, depending on the specific atmospheric conditions.
//www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/nov2006/id20061108_116412.htm
That’s very interesting stuff and ties in nicely with the self-cleaning pavement they installed here recently which cleans off chewing gum automatically. I forgot how exactly. And we just started selling an air purifying light bulb which not only emits light and cleans the air, it’s also full spectrum and energy saving.
These hybrid consumer goods or otherwise commonly used materials seem to be a new hype. Very innovative and definitely purposeful.
shawn, you should have the builders tear out your pool and foundation and relay the ground work with this great stuff.
I am going to get a surfboard made out of it next week.
The Italian name for it is brilliant: “cemento mangiasmog.”
Have to remember this stuff when I build my dream dome house.
This is, as I know of, an invention made by some smart guys at the Swedish cementmakers Maxit (http://www.maxit-group.com/3832/).
Hmm. I’d be afraid of letting one rip and getting sucked into the sidewalk, personally.