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 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," Christie Gamble, the director of sustainability at CarbonCure, told CNNMoney. "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."
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," Gamble said.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/12/technology/concrete-carboncure/index.html
So at least that wall may be useful at something...
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely dubious. Assuming a pure CO2 stream is coming off a factory somewhere that gas has to be compressed, stored, transported, & then heated before it can be injected into concrete. Concrete is very temperature sensitive & injecting cold gas into the mix tank at a concrete yard will take some energy.
ReplyDeleteAll of that takes energy.
Yeah, there's a fair dose of sensationalism in the article. There's plenty of numbers, but the most important one seems to be missing : by what fraction does this method reduce the CO2 required ? The closest it gets is to ask "if the industry is able to reduce 5% of its carbon footprint" which seems very modest.
ReplyDelete