![]() ![]() But it will take about two years to get through the certification process, he adds. “We will absolutely be involved in structural concrete as well,” perhaps with fibrous support instead of reinforcing steel, says Burnett. The co-inventors, also co-founders of Prometheus, are Wil V. “We have discovered a way to accelerate the process,” and create a binding agent similar to the material that coral uses to build reefs and oysters use to generate shells, says Loren Burnett, Prometheus’s co-founder, president and CEO.Ī University of Colorado-Boulder team invented the bio-cement, under a $2-million grant from the U.S. The 2,000-psi bio-block is a hydrogel-based living building material containing bacteria capable of microbially induced calcium-carbonate precipitation. The bio-blocks contain drastically less embodied carbon, thanks to a patent-pending photosynthetic bio-cementation process that combines living microalgae with water, sunlight and CO 2 ( ENR, June 27-July 4, P. The secret juice in the block is a biological binding agent, dubbed bio-cement, that replaces all of the portland cement, reducing EC in the material by 90%, says the startup. By the end of the year, the startup expects to begin producing portland-cement-free “bio-masonry” units to replace embodied-carbon-intensive cementitious masonry units, known as concrete block. Prometheus Materials is also taking cues from nature. ![]() Concrete producer CalPortland will be working with Fortera to sell the material to the local market and to produce materials for sampling by large consumers. The plan is for material made at its Redding, Calif., plant to go into full production early next year. Loren Burnett, Prometheus Co-founder, President and CEOįortera says its process delivers one ton of powder for each ton of limestone used. “We have discovered a way to accelerate the process.” The product, which Fortera calls Reactive Calcium Carbonate (CaCO 3), is a dry powder. When dissolved, it sets up a reaction with calcium oxide to permanently mineralize it, says Kas Farsad, vice president for corporate development. Their technology uses a standard cement plant’s process with added proprietary systems to capture CO 2 emissions from kilns and convert them into a cementitious product.įortera claims its technology can deliver a 60% reduction in CO 2 emissions per ton of material produced.įortera’s system essentially recarbonates calcium oxide by combining captured CO 2 from emissions. San Jose, Calif.-based Fortera employs a similar technique to reduce the carbon footprint of cement. Outside of a small demonstration project at the San Francisco International Airport, where Blue Planet’s limestone aggregate was specified in 2016 for the remodeling of a boarding area, the company has not seen its aggregates used in vertical construction. Holcim North America has invested in Blue Planet’s technology. “It’s producing small quantities that have been tested in labs and with our partners.” “We just have our demonstration plant,” Gottfried says. Unlike CarbonCure, though, Blue Planet’s mineralization process is not yet used by concrete producers in their facilities. The company also produces an upcycled aggregate from recycled concrete. The output is coarse or fine limestone aggregate. Adam Auer, president and CEO, Cement Association of Canadaīlue Planet says its mineralization technology can capture carbon from sources containing as little as 5% CO 2, including power stations, petrochemical plants, steel mills, cement plants and from direct air capture carbon centers. “The whole industry is moving toward decarbonization strategies.” The company plans to mineralize hundreds of tons of CO 2 a year once it reaches full capacity at its proof-of-concept plant in Pittsburg, Calif. “We make the limestone on land without heat,” says David Gottfried, Blue Planet’s chief commercialization officer. Two carbon-capture startups, Blue Planet and Fortera, are attempting a mineralization technology that uses a natural process that mimics coral reef limestone growth.īlue Planet claims a rate of 44% sequestered CO 2 in every 100 lb of its limestone aggregate. The mineralized CO 2 is permanent and can’t be unleashed into the environment, even if a building is demolished, says Gamble. The process turns the CO 2 into a mineral. Grand-Scale Concrete Sustainability for Buildings Is a Big Productionįounded in 2012, the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company has 600 installations of its carbon capture-also know as carbon mineralization-systems in concrete producers’ facilities in North America, says Christie Gamble, CarbonCure’s senior director of sustainability.ĬarbonCure producer-partners acquire CO 2 from industrial gas supply companies-usually captured flue waste-and CarbonCure’s systems create a chemical reaction once it’s injected in liquid form into a concrete mix.
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