Comments by "Ralphie Raccoon" (@Croz89) on "Business Insider" channel.

  1. I was reading an article about how India is a potential location for new cocoa plantations, quite a lot of the more humid parts of the country have conditions suitable for growing it but it only makes up a tiny percentage of the world market. Hopefully spreading cultivation out to more parts of the world will reduce the risk if there's problems in one part. It's also clear production will have to increase to keep up with global demand.
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  2.  @KainYusanagi  Sand is an essential component of concrete, you can't just swap it out. You can partially replace some of the other aggregates like gravel with things like fly ash, but these do affect the properties of the concrete so have to be incorporated carefully. Mixing concrete is like mixing cake batter, if you adjust your ingredients even slightly it can significantly affect the final product. As for aerated concrete, that already exists, look up RAAC and you'll realise why we don't use it any more (in short, it breaks apart when it gets wet).
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  3. I mean, they're two totally different chemicals. You can't just swap one with the other.
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  4.  @KainYusanagi  wherever concrete is used its mechanical properties matter, even in a foundation as a bad mix could subside. As for RAAC only lasting 30 years, well the majority of things we make from concrete are designed to last more than that, so it's fairly useless. We didn't know RAAC had this problem at the time or we would have never used it. And it still degrades much faster when it gets wet.
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  5.  @KainYusanagi  And it has completely different mechanical properties to silicon dioxide.
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  6.  @KainYusanagi  Water ingress is not just a problem for reinforced RAAC, because the water can get trapped in the concrete, which can cause it to swell and crack. Preventing any moisture from getting to concrete, especially in a damp climate, is really challenging, a bit of sealant is unlikely to cut it. It is still a material that has some niche applications, but it's not something that ever should have been so widespread, especially in places like the UK. What we didn't understand is just how easy water got into RAAC and the damage it caused even without reinforcement. And I don't know what you do in your country, but we don't usually use concrete for our roads and pavements, we use aggregates and tarmac. RAAC would also be a terrible choice for roads as its compressive strength is lower than regular concentrate, it'll get flattened.
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  7. I think we're going to need to get less squeamish about incineration. Realistically I don't think we can reduce plastic consumption all that much, what we've done with bags and straws is only a tiny fraction of the waste. And usually the alternatives have their own problems, glass is fragile, can't be as thin, and is heavier, which means more diesel is burnt carting the bottles around. Incineration isn't pretty, but it can safely destroy plastic waste that is uneconomic to recycle, it generates energy, and the ash can be mixed into concrete in construction or buried.
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  8. He won't when he sees how much more Europeans and Americans will pay for his product. Ghanaian produced chocolate would probably fetch a fair premium in fancy supermarkets.
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  9. If you remove the water you get whey powder which can be mixed into animal feed.
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  10.  @markeldred5541  There have been some experiments with using recycled plastic as a road surface, either blended into asphalt or a completely plastic surface. Problem is that can create more microplastic particles that are shed off the road and into storm drains, and ultimately into the sea.
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  11.  @leavingitblank9363  Cochineal is fairly strong and stable, but of course it means the food is no longer vegetarian because it's got crushed up beetles in it. Blue is the hardest, most natural blues are pretty weak and come out more turquoise in food.
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  12. The Ghanian middle class can afford it, domestic or imported.
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  13. You probably could, there are petroleum based polymers what closely mimic latex.
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  14. You can see why the craft is dying, it would be pretty easy to automate the process in a factory, and you'd likely get perfect tiles 99% of the time.
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  15. Because they don't buy it from them, they buy it from brokers who mix it all together from hundreds of smallholders. Only high end manufacturers who buy "single estate" cocoa have a direct relationship with growers.
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  16. Spirulina can do bright blue, but dark blue is difficult.
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  17. There have been some attempts to grow cocoa in greenhouses in southern Europe. Only small quantities have been produced, and obviously energy costs are a factor.
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  18.  @hypernewlapse  I can imagine, cocoa has a complex combination of alkaloids that give it the "chocolate" flavour. Trying to replicate that with oats would be nigh on impossible.
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  19.  @hypernewlapse  Honestly for that it sounds like you'd get away with just vegetable fat, sugar and brown food dye.
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  20. The problem is preventing single use plastics from composting before they're used. You end up having to spend more energy on climate control when storing the product which negates a lot of the benefits.
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