[Cob] Re: Pollution from Production of Portland Cement

[Amanda Peck]

True.

But was this the part of the process involving burning limestone to make 
lime?  (remember lime=good, concrete=bad, at least to some of the purists)

That said, coal dust and Sulfur Oxides ain't real good company.

But consider that- LNG supplies, at least in the U.S., are starting to run 
out.  So we're starting to import the stuff in huge pressurized tankers.  
Which will add to the embodied energy, if not actual pollution.  (not to 
mention cooling the seawater off Baja California)

Somehow I don't think there's one really good answer to all this.  May I 
re-recommend Tony Wrench's book, "How to make a low-impact round house."  He 
does a whole lot better job of thinking through "low-impact" than most 
residents of the U.S., even those of us wanting to build an all-natural 
house of mud and straw.
...........
Frank wrote:
In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at least one cement manufacturer
converted their furnaces back from using natural gas to coal
because of the cost savings.  The resulting problems are more
carbon dioxide production as well as increased sulphur dioxide
production depending on the sulphur content of the coal.  There
would also be increased pollution (especially coal dust) from moving
the coal from storage to the furnaces.