The production of cement depletes natural resources, consumes high energy and emits huge amounts of green house gases. It accounts for almost 7% of the global carbon dioxide emissions, as the production of one ton of ordinary Portland cement releases approximately one ton of carbon dioxide. Due to the severe environmental pollution and health hazards associated with the cement and construction industries, they are under the strict scrutiny from the governments and environmentalists.

Rice husk is an agricultural waste, whose natural degradation is restricted due to the irregular abrasive surface and high siliceous composition. It is not appropriate to be used as a feed for animals due to the low nutritional values. If dumped as landfill, they can take a lot of area and become a major challenge to the environment. If they are disposed by burning, the ashes can spread to the surrounding areas, create pollution and destroy the natural beauty. One of the possible solutions for the disposal of rice husk is to convert them into rice husk ash and incorporate them into cement based materials. The partial inclusion of rice husk ash (RHA) for cement is found to be durable, environmental friendly and economically viable.

This paper presents an overview of some of the published results on the successful utilization of rice husk ash as a supplementary cementitious material and the properties of such concrete at fresh and hardened stages. Studies indicate that there is a promising future for the use of rice husk ash in normal, high strength and self compacting concrete as it shows high strength, low shrinkage and permeability, high resistance to carbonation, chloride, sulfate and acidic environments. The summery and discussions provided in this paper should provide new information and knowledge on the applications of greener and sustainable rice husk ash concrete.

水泥的生产消耗了自然资源，消耗了高能量，并释放出大量的温室气体。它占全球二氧化碳排放量的近7％，因为生产一吨普通波特兰水泥会释放大约一吨二氧化碳。由于与水泥和建筑行业相关的严重环境污染和健康危害，它们受到政府和环保主义者的严格审查。

稻壳是一种农业废物，由于不规则的磨料表面和高硅质成分，其自然降解受到限制。由于营养价值低，不适合用作动物饲料。如果作为垃圾填埋场倾倒，它们会占据很大的面积，并成为对环境的重大挑战。如果将它们烧掉，骨灰会散布到周围地区，造成污染并破坏自然美景。处置稻壳的一种可能的解决方案是将它们转化为稻壳灰，然后将其掺入水泥基材料中。发现部分掺入水泥的稻壳灰（RHA）是耐用的，环境友好的并且在经济上可行。

本文概述了已成功利用稻壳灰作为补充胶凝材料的一些已发表结果，以及这种混凝土在新鲜和硬化阶段的性能。研究表明，稻壳灰在普通，高强度和自密实混凝土中使用具有广阔的前景，因为它显示出高强度，低收缩率和渗透性，高抗碳化，抗氯化物，抗硫酸盐和酸性环境的能力。本文的总结和讨论应为绿色和可持续的稻壳灰混凝土的应用提供新的信息和知识。