Bamboo houses to store CO2

The Altran Foundation on Monday presented a natural storage of CO2 through the use of bamboo for building construction material would quickly build sustainable housing and create a new source of business for the producer countries underdeveloped.

The capture of CO2 by using bamboo as a construction project is the 2008 winner of the Altran Foundation for Innovation, which aims to decrease the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere naturally and allow the opening of a source business to producing countries, mainly developing countries.

Its creator, Francis Gallo, explained at a press conference that the system involves the transformation of bamboo into a moldable material with which to build prefabricated modular buildings allow the lifting of very quickly.
Benefit the producing countries

Gallo says, "bamboo absorbs 30% more carbon dioxide than coniferous species commonly used in construction," and added that the project aims the development of bamboo industry whose benefits have a direct impact on the productive population.

The inventor suggests that the limits on the giant bamboo that grows in line with the borders of many underdeveloped tropical countries would find this plant a new source of revenue, plus a quick and natural way to build their own buildings up to five stories.

The first home built with bamboo rate will rise in the Colombian city of Pereira in mid 2010, when another prototype will be ready also to the drivers of Altra Foundation trust that is placed in Barcelona, which also have been built sustainable housing designs .

Gallo notes that CO2 capture is a "technological and economic challenge" expensive if done artificially, so it aims to build on existing natural methods such as capturing carbon dioxide by plants as part of its vital functions.

Although the initial price of bamboo housing will exceed the usual concrete, energy savings outweigh the initial expenditure and be more competitive when placed "immediately" on a large scale, says the creator.