Dwelling in the Anthropocene: sustainable supply chains for the built environment

Speaker: Dott. Luca Valentini (Department of Geosciences - University of Padova) - Thursday 18th november - 4,30 pm | Aula Arduino

18.11.2021

Reconciling the need of meeting the demand for reliable, durable, and cost-effective building materials, without impacting on the environment, poses a societal conundrum and an extraordinary technological challenge. It is reported that nearly 40 billion tonnes of raw materials extracted from the Earth’s crust each year feed into the construction industry. The associated material flows dramatically contribute to the anthropogenic CO2 emissions. It is therefore mandatory that more sustainable supply chains are envisaged, based on the use of locally available resources and on the principles of the circular economy, with the aim of mitigating: a) CO2 emissions associated with extraction and processing of raw materials; b) overall volumes of virgin raw materials and unrecoverable waste; c) negative impacts on landscapes by large-scale quarrying and mining operations. This seminar will illustrate some possible solutions to these issues and will reflect on the role of the geoscientist in planning a sustainable urban future.