2023年5月18日

混凝土製造商在世界各地競相從無處不在但hard-to-decarbonize行業減排。本周,全球努力邁出了重要的一步,在阿拉巴馬州中部設施。啟動CarbonBuilt周三稱,商業生產的低碳混凝土已經開始在植物Childersburg的城市。布萊爾,當地砌體製造商製造厚的灰色塊使用CarbonBuilt的小說技術,啟動索賠可以降低整體concrete-making二氧化碳排放量到70年提高到100%。“這不僅是一個裏程碑CarbonBuilt和布萊爾,也為更廣泛的混凝土和建築材料行業,“拉胡爾Shendure, CarbonBuilt的CEO,在一份聲明中說。“我們已經表明,可以大大減少碳排放從混凝土生產成本或性能的前提下。“訂閱接收CarbonBuilt金絲雀的最新消息是在一個快速增長的集團公司和研究機構致力於解決最concrete-making過程的碳密集型組件:波特蘭水泥。石灰石和粘土的融合是一個重要的成分,但它加熱時釋放出大量的二氧化碳。今天,世界每年生產超過40億噸的水泥。因此,水泥生產占全球二氧化碳排放量的7 - 8%。 CarbonBuilt’s own alternative-cement process involves using calcium-rich industrial waste materials, which are then combined with water and aggregates. The mixture is pressed into molds and placed inside a temperature-controlled chamber. The startup then flows CO2 into the chamber, driving a chemical reaction that forms solid concrete and permanently traps carbon in the blocks. The startup formed in UCLA’s engineering school in 2014, then spun out in 2019. The Los Angeles–based company previously demonstrated its technology at coal- and gas-fired power plants in northern Wyoming and in Wilsonville, Alabama, where the U.S. Department of Energy operates the National Carbon Capture Center. In 2021, CarbonBuilt won $7.5 million from the NRG Cosia Carbon Xprize for its technology. Get Caught Up Blair Block retrofitted an existing production line to use CarbonBuilt's novel technology in Alabama. (CarbonBuilt) Along with the Childersburg project, CarbonBuilt is also participating in a new high-tech initiative in Flagstaff, Arizona, as Canary Media reported in March. Block-Lite , a local masonry business, said it plans to produce concrete by combining CarbonBuilt’s unique process with technology that removes carbon dioxide directly from the sky. The Alabama project will source its CO2 not from fledgling “direct air capture” facilities but from forestry waste that’s processed in an on-site furnace. CarbonBuilt and Blair Block retrofitted an existing commercial plant, which Shendure said cost a couple of million dollars to build. However, the low-carbon concrete blocks themselves won’t cost any more to produce than traditional concrete. CarbonBuilt didn’t say exactly how much low-carbon concrete the facility will produce on the retrofitted line. Whatever the number is, it’s likely to barely even scratch the surface compared to the 1.5 billion concrete blocks produced in the U.S. alone every year. The startup says the first converted line at Blair Block will avoid at least 2,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, roughly equal to the annual emissions from 252 average U.S. homes. It will also remove another 500 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere through the forestry waste it uses as an input. C&C Masonry , a leading contractor across Alabama, said it plans to use the alternative blocks for its upcoming projects. The company is building or bidding for several projects this year that could require using up to 100,000 concrete blocks for use in large public projects around the state, a representative said by email. At 29 pounds a piece, this would translate into nearly 1,500 metric tons of low-carbon blocks. For CarbonBuilt, the launch of its first commercial production line could help pave the way for retrofitting more of the nation’s 800 or so concrete plants. Many of them are local, family-run businesses like the companies CarbonBuilt is partnering with in Alabama and Arizona. “We look forward to replicating this success at concrete masonry plants around the country,” Shendure said in the statement.