A California startup using rocks to soak up carbon dioxide from the air has teamed up with a Canadian company to mineralize the gas in concrete, a technological tie-up that is a first and they say could provide a model for fighting climate change globally.

Peter Henderson, Reuters, 04/02/2023

U.N. scientists concluded that removing billions of tons of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, in addition to cutting current emissions, will be necessary to limit climate change. To do that, two things are needed: first, capturing carbon dioxide with nature or technology, and second, locking it up for centuries.

Companies are springing up to do both.

Heirloom Carbon Technologies delivered about 30 kg (66 lb) of CO2 collected from the air around its San Francisco Bay Area headquarters to neighboring Central Concrete, a Vulcan Materials’ (VMC.N) subsidiary that on Wednesday incorporated the gas into new concrete. That’s equivalent to tailpipe emissions of driving about 75 miles (120 km) in a car.

The joint effort between Heirloom and Canada’s CarbonCure Technologies was the first time that carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere using such Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology had been secured in concrete, where the CO2 will stay put for centuries, several scientists said.

Read the full article on Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/concrete-traps-co2-soaked-air-climate-friendly-test-2023-02-03/