This Concrete Traps CO2 Emissions Forever—Video Included

Concrete is the most abundant man-made material on earth. But concrete’s essential ingredient, cement, has a large carbon footprint. Cement is what makes concrete strong, but the process of making cement requires superheating calcium carbonate, or limestone, which releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to the International Energy Agency, cement is responsible for 7% of global man-made greenhouse emissions, making it the world’s second largest industrial source of carbon dioxide (CO₂). But a Canadian startup has invented a new system for making concrete that traps CO₂ emissions forever and at the same time reduces the need for cement.

CarbonCure‘s system takes captured CO₂ and injects it into concrete as it’s being mixed. Once the concrete hardens, that carbon is sequestered forever. Even if the pavement is torn up or the building is torn down, the carbon stays put. That’s because it reacts with the concrete and becomes a mineral.

“The best thing about it is the mineral itself improves the compressive strength of the concrete. Because the CO₂ actually helps to make the concrete stronger, concrete producers can still make concrete as strong as they need to but use less cement in the process,” Christie Gamble, Director of Sustainability-CarbonCure, told CNNMoney.

And using less cement is how producers can really reduce emissions. It is an environmentally friendly business concept.

Atlanta-based Thomas Concrete has been using CarbonCure‘s system since 2016. Thomas Concrete says it has since prevented 10 million pounds of CO₂ emissions. Justin Lazenby, Manager of Technical Operations-Thomas Concrete, said the move toward greener tech is a long-term decision the concrete industry should embrace. “The industry as a whole has always kind of looked at trying to solve today’s problems with yesterday’s technology, which doesn’t really work,” he said.

The company pays to use CarbonCure and buys captured CO₂ from a fertilizer plant where it’s emitted, but says those costs even out with what they save by using less cement. CarbonCure‘s technology utilizes CO₂ that would otherwise be a waste product from factories. Finding uses for captured CO₂ is an economically-friendly way of incentivizing companies to capture their emissions.

“We understand that to make environment impact, you have to make business sense. We’re leading that movement right now [by] showing it is possible to take CO₂ and turn it into something that makes financial sense. This concept of beneficial reuse of CO₂ is expected to be a one trillion dollar industry by the year 2030,” Gamble said.

A new mixed-use development will open in 2019 in one of Atlanta, Georgia’s trendiest neighborhoods called 725 Ponce. It is a real-life example of the impact of building with greener concrete—it will become the largest structure ever made with CarbonCure concrete. It is a step in the right direction, but CarbonCure is far from widespread adoption. Right now, only 90 concrete plants in the US and Canada are using their technology—a small fraction of the estimated 5,500 plants in the US alone.

CarbonCure isn’t the only company working to make concrete more environmentally friendly, but it’s one of the first to market. Carbicrete and Carbon Upcycling are two other startups working on more sustainable solutions for concrete. Gregg Lewis, Executive Vice President of Strategy-National Ready-Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA), said these types of technologies will help push the concrete industry toward a more sustainable future. “[It will] offer a huge advantage to how we build as an industry,” he said.

CarbonCure‘s Gamble noted if the industry is able to reduce 5% of its carbon footprint, that is a significant change from where it is right now. “If this technology is deployed across the globe, we could reduce about 700 megatons of CO₂ each year. That’s the same as taking 150 million cars off the road every year. Every time I see concrete being made, I see it as a missed opportunity to save CO₂ emissions. Maybe it will take 20 years … maybe it will take 50 years. Maybe something crazy will happen and it will happen in five years. But we’re starting to see that process,” Gamble said.

For the CNNtech online VIDEO and ARTICLE titled “This concrete (yes, concrete) is going high-tech”, please go to: https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/12/technology/concrete-carboncure/index.html

For additional CO₂-reducing articles and videos from ISCP, please see:
https://www.concretepavements.org/?s=CO2
A few samples from the list:

• ISCP’s “Alkali-Activated Fly Ash Geopolymer Application Highlights Bolder Approach to “Greening” Cement & Concrete Industries”
• ISCP website VIDEO: “VIDEO: Carbon Capture at Norcem of HeidelbergCement, Brevik, Norway”
• ISCP website: “Cement Soaks up Greenhouse Gases”
• ISCP CarbonCure: “Recycling Carbon Dioxide in Concrete for a Lower Carbon Footprint”
• ISCP: “Pavement Industries’ Joint Publication on CO₂ Emissions … “A Call to Take Action Now!””

Home page photo: Clip from CNN video/article