Concrete Carbon Capture. A pathway to net zero?

Carbontech is a developing industry dedicated to drawing carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere and locking it up in products, buildings and infrastructure.One of the fastest growing of those new developments -  carbon capture in concrete - may prove to be one of the most effective ways to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

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Research Links
Our World in Data

Bloomberg NEF

Geopolymer Institute

Carbon Cure

Carbicrete

Blue Planet

Solidia

Carbon Engineering

Climeworks

US 45Q Legislation

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#carbontech #carboncapture #climateemergency

[powderpig]

Can we all please just stop and take a second to appreciate the amount of work that goes into the production of these videos. Absolutely brilliant!

[blueberrylane]

Finally some concrete news about carbon capture.

[syedwaliuddinsaaquib]

I have worked on geopolymer concrete in the form of aerated concrete. It gives good mechanical performance . Good thing about geopolymer is that we can make use of industrial waste such as iron slags, mine tailings, fly Ash etc

[inanutshell]

Carbon capture is one of the key pillars of reaching net zero, along with efficiency, low-carbon electricity, electrification, alternative fuels (such as hydrogen and bioenergy), and behavioural changes. Only if those 6 are combined will we have a fighting chance of reaching net zero.

Nice video!

[brm]

A promising tech I've come across in the past is Hemp concrete or "hempcrete". It doesn't have quite the strength that conventional concrete does, but for smaller build applications like houses and patios, etc. making the concrete directly out of a plant material is a good way to keep the carbon fixed in the building and not the environment.

[geordonworley]

I think its VERY important to keep in mind with all of these processes is that they DO NOT capture carbon and are NOT carbon negative, despite some incorrect comments made to the contrary. It is incorrect to say that any of these technologies are capturing carbon overall. The calcium oxide used as an input to these concretes is produced by heating calcium carbonate. Curing any concrete will reintroduce CO2 into the concrete, but it cannot ever be more than the amount originally freed from the Calcium Carbonate originally. These projects are attempting to REDUCE the carbon footprint of concrete by maximizing the amount of Calcium Carbonate produced. Again, these are excellent developments, but they DO NOT, in any way, make concrete production carbon negative or EVEN carbon neutral, they only make it better than it is now. I want to emphasize this so people don't believe the absurd claims being flung around about this technology. We need REAL carbon capture technology to become carbon negative, and this concrete stuff is NOT net negative, it is NET POSITIVE in producing CO2. Please make sure to spread the word about this.

[elliotsmith]

I worked on a system to pyrolyze switch grass into hydrogen. The grass has a very deep root system which traps a lot of CO2. At the time the process was chewing up a lot of the Nickel catalysis we used, but it did work.

[johnlarson]

hempcrete continues to absorb co2. plant hemp. hemp grows faster than trees has multiple uses including nutrition, clothing. bio degradable plastic and fuel. anything that can be made from oil can be made from hemp

[richardlangley]

I'd have to listen a second time but I believe, Dave, that you commented on the building industry wanting to use more lumber because it sequesters carbon. This has been a concern of mine since the first time I heard it. We used to believe, here in Canada, that our forests were unlimited but the truth is that we have decimated an enormous amount of our woodlands. With the various Green new deal type programs coming forward that suggest we should revamp all buildings to make them energy efficient I just wonder where all the wood is going to come from. I even saw someone stating that young growing trees sequester more carbon than old trees, thus supporting the notion that we should cut down trees for timbers and the replanting will result in more carbon sequestering....total nonsense....and very frightening. Reminds me of bio fuels where wood scraps would be used for fuel for making electricity....now we mow down entire forests, pelletize them and ship them around the world as "green fuel". We really have to carefully analyze every proposed option to make sure it isn't just a gimmick for someone to get rich at our collective expense.

[MrDavejkings]

It would be fascinating to see you do a follow-up to this in a couple of years to see how this pans out

[livingladolcevita]

I think you covered it previously but using the gas to support growing crops in greenhouses is one use, eg the sugar beet factories producing sugar pump the co2 into tomato growing greenhouses next to the factory

[davidcox]

Hempcrete also captures and sequesters CO2. Have you looked into that. It sounds like the ideal building material for homes.

[notlessgrossman]

Let's not forget planting more trees (or other photosynthetic plants) is one of cheapest ways to sequester carbon. With timber framing lumber construction to use the wood.

[oueeiijayii]

Wonderful presentation! To add to what you're saying. Thank you for expanding the concrete equation rather than as many do simplistically rejecting its valuable functions. DELINEATING CONCRETES 1000s of DIVERSE END USES is important to understanding its relative contribution to the CO2 equation. The diverse variety of concrete 'end-uses', must be delineated & evaluated as part of any equation, in order to evaluate concrete's energy or CO2 footprint.
Examples:
MODULAR FACTORY-BUILT cement-board building BLOCKS & PANELS are creating totally adjustable (expandable & contractable) buildings with much less cement & CO2 footprint.
FOAM-CRETE in which soap bubbles are added to concrete slurry, reduces the amount of cement used by 1/3rd to 1/4. Foamcrete can be delivered through hoses from trucks into small 3/4 inch holes from the inside or outside of walls, floors & ceilings into existing wood-frame buildings to create: Non-toxic, Fireproof, Waterproof, Insect-proof, Rodent-proof, building strengthening (when properly designed & calculated) & the best insulation. I've been experimenting with Foamcrete for hollowed-out coconut-shell swallow nests with wonderful results. Foamcrete can retrofit, retain & valorize rural & urban society's mostly wood-frame infrastructure of housing & buildings, without the CO2 costs of building anew as well as lower building costs with varying components.

[Hans]

I have seen this at ACI and this is a very new technology with little traction in my opinion. Even with a big push for research, it will take 20 years or longer to see any level of wide spread use. Structural and civil engineers adopt these technologies very slowly and rightfully so. Many of these technologies have massive down sides like long term durability. I will need to see much more research before I would touch any of the products.

[gg]

You've become a staple part of my Sunday mornings :-)

[bioswars]

It's very good and encouraging to know that companies are working on and with these new concrete processes. Hopefully, these types of actions will inspire other businesses to continue with proper R&D. Every contribution combines into real Innovative Eco Solutions.

[deebie]

Hempcrete is a sustainable carbon negative building material which can be grown in most countries. Check it out, an amazing material to work with, as is the hemp plant. Great presentation thanks

[bartroberts]

Cement as an industry has been foot-dragging and hostile to low-fossil-emission initiatives, but incredibly welcoming to greenwashing.
1. Geopolymer is a vastly superior _AND_ lower cost product with substantial history almost a third as long as OPC has been in existence, but with only about 3% uptake due industry acting against the best interest of end customers. Alkali-activated cements can be made entirely fossil-emission free and are naturally net carbon negative through curing.
2. Geopolymer in particular has high affinity for biochar in aggregate mix, which without significant loss of strength reduces concrete weight as much as 40% while improving insulation and environmental resistance, sequestering four hundred times the carbon of the various CO2 injection methods, plus it disposes of forest wastes that otherwise become fuel for wildfires.
3. Embodied fossil emissions from burning coal or fossil wastes (oil, plastic, tires, etc.) in clinkering is enormous, and unnecessary; there's plenty of woody wastes that could be the fuel instead. Turning limestone to clinker for OPC requires substantially higher temperatures for longer time than turning kaolin into metakaolin, enough that it makes the difference between having to burn and being able to use electric heating, but even if not the difference in fuel used is huge.
4. Concrete is overused in infrastructure, where alternatives like gabion, engineered timber, and rammed earth or the like are too often ignored when for a particular application they are clearly superior.

[theotherandrew]

Two thoughts. Rapidly and progressively reduce all petroleum subsidies; and move as much as possible building construction to solid rock beams & columns. It's beautiful, stronger than concrete and less environmentally damaging.