New ‘Smart Paint’ Could Help Reduce Carbon Emissions

The latest step along the path to carbon neutrality has been developed by Dr Rachel Armstrong, of University College London.

Dr Armstrong has developed a new ’smart paint’ which could help to turn buildings into carbon sinks, according to a story published in the New Scientist this week.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, carbon emissions from domestic housing currently account for more than a quarter of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions.

The paint has been developed by dissolving salts and esters in oil droplets (esters are chemical compounds found in everything from plastic to nitroglycerin). Although it remains to be seen exactly how succesful the new paint will be in practice.

In theory, the paint works by reacting with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to produce calcium carbonate – the main constituent of limestone – and alcohol.

The resulting ‘biolime’ should then provide extra strength and insulation, as well as soaking up carbon emissions, says Dr Armstrong – who has high hopes for her invention.

The new invention is the latest in a range of products that have been developed to try and combat domestic carbon emissions – last year we wrote about a new carbon neutral cement that was being developed by Professor Pal Mangat of Sheffield Hallam University. Whilst London based company Novacem have also been developing a type of cement that actually absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere.

The UK government will certainly be hoping that these developments prove to be succesful, as they aim to meet their target of a 34% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020.

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Tagged as: building, carbon emissions, co2, environment, inventions, paint, science, smart paint