What are the pro and cons of limestone?

Answer 1

Limestone is good for making building materials:

• Glass - limestone + sand + sodium carbonate heated to about 1500degrees C

• Cement - limestone + sand heated in a rotary kiln

• Concrete - cement (from limestone) + sand + water + gravel

• Mortar - calcium hydroxide (slaked lime = Limestone that has thermally decomposed to calcium oxide (quicklime) and then had water added to it) + sand + water

All of these make useful building materials. Powdered limestone or slaked lime (see above) are also both alkaline substances, so are often used in fertiliser to neutralise acidic soil.

However, we have to consider where we will obtain limestone from. The quarrying of limestone can have damaging social and environmental factors, although it would have positive economic factors.

Social - increased noise pollution, increased traffic, less clean air

Environmental - pollution caused by increased traffic

Economic - more jobs in the area

Then we have to consider the impact of making glass, cement, concrete and mortar out of limestone. For example, glass production requires a lot of energy to create enough heat.

Answer 2

Advantages:Less Damage to the natural environment

Disadvantages: More jobs go Ka-Boom