Skip to main content

Sustainable concrete solution from Canadian firm?

A firm in Canada claims it has the answer to questions over the sustainability of concrete as a construction material. One of the key problems is that the cement used in concrete, is responsible for up to 7% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However Canadian company CarbonCure claims its concrete solution can conquer this catch, allowing concrete construction to become more sustainable. CarbonCure’s solution is to introduce recycled CO2 into fresh concrete. And according to the firm, this tech
August 9, 2018 Read time: 3 mins
A firm in Canada claims it has the answer to questions over the sustainability of concrete as a construction material. One of the key problems is that the cement used in concrete, is responsible for up to 7% of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However Canadian company CarbonCure claims its concrete solution can conquer this catch, allowing concrete construction to become more sustainable.


CarbonCure’s solution is to introduce recycled CO2 into fresh concrete. And according to the firm, this technology could save up to 700 megatonnes of CO2 emissions/year, going a long way to tackling the serious threat to human habitation being posed by climate change. It is worth noting that cement  is the world's second largest industrial source of CO2 according to the 1612 International Energy Agency. The United States Geological Survey says that global cement production accounted for 1.818 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2017.

However CarbonCure claims that its technology can deliver significant cost benefits to concrete producers, while making construction more sustainable. It says that injecting CO₂ into concrete improves the compressive strength, enabling a producer to optimise mix designs. This also reduces the quantity of cement needed, further improving the overall environmental footprint and once the concrete cures, the CO2 is said to remain sequestered within the material.

The firm says that its Technology has no upfront capital costs, allowing producers to quickly see a positive return on investment. As a result concrete producers can benefit from improved operations, while offering industry the ability to reduce the carbon footprint of construction projects. The CarbonCure Technology is seamlessly integrated into a plant’s existing batching system and has no impact on daily operations or on cycle time. Aside from improving compressive strength, there is no impact on the concrete’s fresh or hardened properties.

Concrete producers already using this technology buy in the CO2 from other industries. But because the process reduces the quantity of cement required, CarbonCure claims its technology cuts concrete production costs. Thomas Concrete and Ozinga Concrete are two of the major concrete producers in North America using this technology at the moment.

At the moment just 90 concrete plants in North America are using this technology, but CarbonCure believes this solution can deliver a major benefit to the industry worldwide. Nor is the CarbonCure system the only such technology, with at least two similar systems being developed at present.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • E-Mak is supplying asphalt plants to Europe
    April 25, 2024

    Turkish firm E-MAK is now supplying its asphalt plants to customers in Europe. The first plant is already commissioned in Bilbao in Spain with a second being delivered shortly to a customer in the UK.

    The machine going to the UK is being supplied to a Derby-based firm that has previously concentrated on the concrete precasting and readymix market but is now widening its operations to include supplying asphalt. The firm is buying one of the E-MAK Express batching plants, which will offer a rated capacity of 160tonnes/hour.

  • Asphalt plant innovations coming to the market
    April 20, 2018
    The use of recycled materials continues to be a key issue for asphalt plant development, but other advances are also being introduced to meet market needs - Mike Woof writes The asphalt plant market has been a focus for a series of technical developments in recent years. Warm asphalt solutions and new technology for the use of recycled asphalt have been high on the R&D priority list for manufacturers of both continuous and batching type plants. However, new developing technology is not the only driver f
  • Benninghoven | The fuels of the future are carbon neutral
    September 5, 2022
    Benninghoven burners enable reliable use of renewable and therefore sustainable energy sources
  • Lowering the carbon footprint of asphalt production
    September 28, 2023
    Advances in asphalt production will reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption.