Population Health
October 22, 2025
Fortifying cement with seaweed to reduce its carbon footprint
Concrete is the second most-used material on Earth after water, but its key ingredient, cement, contributes up to 10% of global CO₂ emissions.
To tackle this, researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft developed a low-carbon concrete by incorporating powdered seaweed, which reduced its global warming potential by 21% without compromising strength. Machine learning accelerated the discovery process, allowing the team to identify an optimal formulation in just 28 days instead of years.
The researchers aim to expand this approach to other natural materials like algae and food waste to create sustainable, locally sourced cement alternatives.