Researchers in the US have developed a new electric plasma heating method that could significantly speed up the production of cement and at the same time slash its reliance on fossil fuels.

The technique was developed by Qi Zheng, PhD, and Yi Cui, PhD, from Stanford University, along with Paulo Monteiro, PhD, a civil engineering researcher at UC Berkeley. It uses plasma heated above 4,352 degrees Fahrenheit (2,400 degrees Celsius) to directly heat the raw materials used to make cement.

Read more in Interesting Engineering here.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.