Strategies for green concrete: new and traditional binders

This paper deals with the environmental impact of concrete industry in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, energy requirements and natural raw materials consumption. It highlights the best paths to improve the sustainability of cementitious materials, taking into account not only the reduction of environmental impact but also the improvement of performances and the prolonging of service life of reinforced concrete structures. In particular, the authors discuss critically several strategies proposed in the last years to obtain a “green” concrete: from the new technologies to improve the efficiency of cement plants (including the carbon capture, utilization and storage systems) to the partial replacement of Portland cement with novel supplementary cementitious materials, presenting also the latest findings on the use of alternative “green” binders.