Concrete and carbon uptake

Concrete and carbon uptake

Author: PNAS April 6, 2026 Duration: 10:46

How much carbon dioxide concrete can absorb

Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.

In this episode, Hessam Azarijafari explains the extent to which concrete can absorb carbon dioxide over its lifecycle.

In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction.
•[00:56] Construction engineer Hessam Azarijafari introduces us to the recipe for concrete.
•[01:41] He explains how concrete absorbs carbon dioxide throughout its lifespan, and why this absorption is important.
•[02:52] Azarijafari talks about the background of the study.
•[03:45] He describes the model built for the study and the data source.
•[05:59] Azarijafari tells the study's results, including variation in absorption across sectors and between the US and Mexico.
•[07:41] He compares this analysis with previous estimates of concrete carbon absorption.
•[08:25] He explains the takeaways from this study for policymakers and the concrete industry.
•[09:36] He lists the caveats and limitations of the study.
•[10:19] Conclusion.

About Our Guest:

Hessam Azarijafari
Research Scientist
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2515116122

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Tune into PNAS Science Sessions for a direct line to the people shaping modern science. Produced by PNAS, this podcast offers more than just summaries of published research; it’s where you hear the candid, often personal stories behind the headlines. Each episode features concise conversations with the researchers themselves-from emerging voices to established Academy members-alongside the policymakers whose decisions are informed by this work. You’ll get a genuine sense of the questions that drive these experts, the unexpected hurdles they face in their labs and field studies, and why their findings matter right now. The scope is deliberately wide, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of science itself, covering discoveries that range from microscopic processes to planetary-scale phenomena. This isn't about dry lectures, but about capturing the human endeavor of investigation. For anyone curious about how science actually unfolds and wants to understand the context of breakthroughs as they happen, this podcast serves as an essential, engaging resource. It connects the dots between a published paper in a prestigious journal and the real-world implications that ripple out from it.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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