Concrete Source: Mıt Scientists Turn The Concrete Jungle Green

The substance itself is even dull. Not even its assured place in the history books of the Roman Empire make it a less than sexy subject from the bystander's point of view.

Let's face it - concrete is boring. Most of us recognise it instantly, when we see hideous flats and offices from the 1960s and 1970s, that for a brief moment were the cutting edge of architecture.

So, with our expectations completely lowered, it's time to visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known better as MIT.

Concrete age
Here concrete is treated with an admiration more often reserved for diamonds or gold, especially by Franz-Josef Ulm, one of the top professors in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

"Concrete is maybe one of the oldest man-made materials on earth," he says.

"Some people say it was used by the Egyptians for the second layer of the pyramids. Modern cement came about in the late 19th, early 20th Century."

When you meet the researchers their passion for concrete becomes infectious. It has, after all, had an immeasurable impact on mankind.

It has allowed us to cross rivers easily, live on top of one another in relative comfort and drive vehicles for hundreds of miles without becoming stuck in the mud.

Hamlin Jennings, the executive director of MIT's Concrete Sustainability Hub, a collection of academics from various departments brought together to examine concrete in detail, says it is a fascinating substance.

"Concrete is a relatively inexpensive. It's a forgiving material - it can be mixed by ordinary labourers, and used in climates ranging from the South Pole to the tropical mid part of the Earth. It can also get hard under water."

Environmental impact
But all that comes at a price to the environment. Thirty billion tons of concrete are manufactured globally each year.

The way that concrete is mixed is very simple says Professor Ulm.

"It's made out of cement. Cement is basically limestone and clay. Cement is then mixed with water to form this ubiquitous material which shapes our landscapes and cities."

This process of combining of water, cement paste, sand and rock creates an awful lot of CO2 gases - which are linked by some scientists to global warming - about five to 10% of the world's total emissions.