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Carbon Capture and Utilization Can Enable Low-Carbon Concrete Production, Says IDTechEx
The CO produced during the calcination reaction can be captured at point-source to be either stored safely underground (carbon storage) or used for a range of industrial applications (carbon utilization), including concrete manufacturing. These carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are likely to play a key role in the fight against climate change, with the UN estimating that CCUS could mitigate between 1.5 and 6.3 gigatonnes of CO equivalents per year by 2050.
Though CCUS technologies do exist commercially, they will need to scale up hundreds of times to have a meaningful impact on global emissions. As CO storage has no business model without a regulatory framework, CO utilization could boost the economic feasibility of CCU. However, for captured CO to be widely utilized as a raw material, CO marketplaces and distribution infrastructure will need to expand accordingly.
Using the CO captured on-site as a feedstock for concrete manufacturing could be an effective way to come full circle. A promising solution that applies this principle is carbon-cured concrete. In CO -curing, captured CO is injected to accelerate the process, strengthen the concrete, and sequester the CO into the end-product.
The Montreal -based cleantech CarbiCrete uses this CO -curing method to produce carbon negative precast concrete blocks. The negative emissions are achieved not only by utilizing CO , but also by using an industrial waste as raw material, steel slag, eliminating the need for cement altogether. A more modest carbon footprint reduction of around 5% is promised by CarbonCure, although its technology has a broader market penetration, spanning both precast and ready-mix concrete. The company is also using captured CO2 to strengthen recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and to treat concrete wash water to allow for its reuse.
Another Canadian startup, Carbon Upcycling Technologies (CUT), makes additives for concrete by incorporating CO into industrial waste powder by-products such as fly ash. CUT's resulting CO -enhanced fly ash promises to improve concrete strength whilst reducing its carbon footprint by up to 25% through both sequestering CO and decreasing the demand for cement as a raw material by 10%.
Although some of these technologies promote reductions in operational and raw material costs, sourcing captured CO is likely to increase the overall price of the final product. With the appropriate policy incentives and cost reductions that comes with large-scale implementation, this "green premium" can be reduced, giving the edge needed for these low-carbon concrete alternatives to take off.
Concrete manufacturers are facing a growing pressure to abate their emissions, even though the economic advantages of doing so are still uncertain. To capitalize from CCU technologies, concrete makers will need to commit to fundamental changes in their well-established manufacturing methods, which may involve lofty investments and partnerships with unfamiliar players, such as carbon capture companies and innovators licensing CO utilization solutions. Forward-thinking players are likely to future-proof their business, as they focus on both profits and sustainability.
For a more detailed analysis of the technological and economic factors in the CCUS industry over the next twenty years, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/CCUS . For the full portfolio of Green Technology research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com/Research/GreenTech .
IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com .
Natalie Moreton
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