AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there. SAN JOSE — A California startup using rocks to soak up carbon dioxide from the air has teamed up with a Canadian company to mineralise the gas in concrete, a technological tie-up that is...
SAN JOSE — A California startup using rocks to soak up carbon dioxide from the air has teamed up with a Canadian company to mineralise the gas in concrete, a technological tie-up that is a first and they say could provide a model for fighting climate change globally.
"Today this is a thimbleful of emissions abatement. You know, that's how it starts," said Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct, which works with companies to manage their carbon footprint. CarbonCure, the concrete technology company, mixes CO2 with concrete ingredients, turning it into a mineral that strengthens the concrete, cutting the need for cement — the part of concrete with the biggest carbon footprint.
"To remove a billion tons from the air we need in the order of mid-hundreds of billions of dollars," said Samala, who expects funders of solar, buildings, transmission towers and other infrastructure to finance carbon infrastructure, too.The US government and industry broadly see US$100 -a-tonne carbon dioxide as a reasonable price for broad deployment. Heirloom charges around US$1,000 now; Samala expects to be at US$100 by the time his projects are soaking up millions of tons a year.