Cuban scientists have developed a type of cement that is cheaper to produce and less polluting than conventional cement, with the support of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland. In this newly developed process, a large part of the clinker, a main component of cement, is replaced with a mixture of metakaolin – a refined form of kaolin clay – and limestone. Since the latter is not fired in the process, carbon emissions into the atmosphere are reduced.

The use of metakaolin leads to the production of “low-carbon” cement, explained project head Fernando Martirena, director of the Center for Structures and Materials Research and Development at Marta Abreu Central University of Las Villas, in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara.

"It could make a significant contribution to mitigating the problems of climate change,” Martirena told Tierramérica, “by reducing global emissions from cement production,” which accounts for between five and eight percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by human activities.