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to capture CO2
By Ben Coxworth
February 1, 2010
8 Comments
4 Pictures
Novacem Chairman Stuart Evans and Chief Scientist Nikolaos Vlasopoulous, with
samples of their CO2-absorbing concrete
Image Gallery (4 images)
Concrete seems pretty inoffensive. It just looks like mud, and appears to do nothing
except sit there and harden. The fact is, though, concrete is the world's third-largest
source of man-made carbon dioxide. Its production process accounts for at least 5% of
the CO2 our species pumps into the atmosphere annually. Apparently, however, it
doesn't have to be that way. Two companies are now using different technologies that
not only make concrete carbon-neutral, they actually make it carbon-negative.
Other benefits
CMAP has a couple of other aces up its sleeve. It has been shown to capture 95-98% of
sulfur dioxide in flue gases, and neutralizes other pollutants such as mercury, trace
metals, nitrogen and ammonia. Combined with a desalination plant, it could also
produce low-cost drinking water - the seawater would already be getting pumped in, and
would already have its calcium and magnesium removed, making the desalination
process cheaper and easier. In another scenario, Calera's process could use the
leftover brine slurry from a desalination plant to extract CO2 from flue gas. This set-up
would result in cleaner post-slurry wastewater than would be possible with a standalone desalination plant. It is also hoped that revenue generated by desalination, along
with concrete sales, would help make CMAP cost-effective.
Calera's process is currently being used in a pilot project at the Moss Landing power
plant in California. Similar technologies are being pursued by companies such as
America's Carbon Sciences and Canada's Carbon Sense.