What's more, is that this mineralization process makes ready-mix concrete slightly stronger than some alternatives, according to the company.ĬarbonCure technology is installed in nearly 150 concrete plants across North America and Southeast Asia, the company says, and it's used by 100 concrete producers across North America. The carbon is stuck in the limestone indefinitely. The company pumps recycled CO 2 into wet concrete while it's being mixed, at which point the gas reacts with water and calcium ions in the cement, forming solid limestone. As of 2016, the Canadian company had raised around $11 million, per PitchBook, but it did not disclose the total of its most recent funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a fund spearheaded by Bill Gates.ĬarbonCure reduces emissions by sequestering CO 2 in concrete. It's in this reality that CarbonCure - a startup that promises to lower emissions in the cement industry - has taken root with a strong coalition of funders. According to the International Energy Agency, cement production could increase by as much as 23% in the next 30 years, in response to urbanization and population growth. Here's a shocking statistic: If the cement industry was a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, right behind China and the US, generating 8% of global CO 2 emissions.Īnd it's not likely to get better anytime soon. It often indicates a user profile.ĬarbonCure's CO2 injection technology, which produces a concrete with far fewer carbon emissions That's where your future is.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. "I think it's great when smart innovators are coming into a community. "When you start to bring in people who are problem solvers and entrepreneurs who see opportunity when it's there and aren't blind to it, that's an exciting place for a community to be. The pilot plant could be game changing in terms of reducing the global carbon footprint and it could make the mountain town a hub for green technology in the process, said Mayor Patricia Heintzman. "The nice thing about the technology is that there are no real limitations for it to ultimately, in theory, displace all of the existing fossil-based transportation fuels," Corless said.īuilt on the site of a former Nexen chemical facility in Squamish, Carbon Engineering's pilot plant is bringing new technology to an area undergoing long-term development. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)Įventually, the fuel could be used for ships or planes. Senior process engineer Jane Ritchie explains how the pellet reactor system controls work at Calgary-based Carbon Engineering's first direct air capture plant in Squamish, B.C. Once that plant is running in 2016 or 2017, it will produce 200 to 400 litres of gasoline or diesel per day, and there are already groups interested in buying the product, Corless said. "I think we're just the first to be in position with that key piece of technology - which is the scalable source of atmospheric CO2 - that allows you to think about making a larger scale fuel synthesis plant." Turning CO2 into fuel "It's not something that we were the first to think about it," Corless said. Soon the company will take the technology even farther, building another system that will turn the captured carbon into useable transportation fuel by adding hydrogen from renewable sources, such as solar, wind or hydro. It may not be magic, but it is innovative - Carbon Engineering is a world leader in direct-air carbon capture, Corless said. And we've really adapted them from other industries." "The pieces of equipment already exist today in very large scale. "There's no real magic to it," Corless said. The pellets are then heated to 800 or 900 degrees Celsius and break down, releasing pure carbon. The plant works by moving large volumes of air through a piece of equipment where CO2 is absorbed by a liquid solution, and then transformed into pellets of calcium carbonate. "But it's very important, because it's the first time that anyone's demonstrated a technology that captures CO2 that has the potential to be scaled up to be large enough to be relevant from an environmental or climate point of view." "It's still a pilot-scale plant," explained Adrian Corless, Carbon Engineering's CEO. Calgary-based Carbon Engineering's first direct air capture plant in Squamish, B.C., extracts carbon dioxide directly from atmospheric air.
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