Reduction of carbon pollution demands creative solutions
Reducing carbon emissions in polluting industries like cement can significantly succeed in combating climate change. Along with technological advancement, the role of industries and the government is also critical.
Only if we can ensure a large-scale carbon alternative will there be any profit. Industrial zones like cement factories can play the best role in this case as the cement industry is responsible for eight percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
As a chemical engineer, Gorge Derberg thinks, “Cement production is impossible without the release of carbon dioxide due to chemical reasons.”
Chris Stern is a cement expert. He set up a company to make carbon-free concrete. He uses steel slag as a by-product of the steel industry instead of cement.
Chris is a very energetic man. According to him, “If someone has to do it right, why shouldn’t I?” We have created an alternative cement process instead of removing carbon from cement. “
The Carbicrete company buys carbon dioxide from industrial gas suppliers. They purify the gas emitted by the industry. Here, his company sells that technology.
He teamed up with scientists at McGill University to create a process called “CCU Curing.” Under this, carbon dioxide introduces into a reservoir. It comes in contact with steel slag and turns into stable calcium carbonate.
The question is, how much carbon dioxide saves in this way? “Without the use of cement, we can avoid two kilograms of CCU emissions,” said Chris Stern.
Moreover, we can bury up to one kilogram of CIUTU in the concrete block. In other words, it is possible to remove about three kilograms of carbon in a total of 18-kilogram blocks. By applying this technology, we can remove millions of tons of carbon.”
At present, about 230 million tons of carbon dioxide are used worldwide throughout the year. But so far, we can only collect 40 million tons. Seventy percent of that happens in North America.
As a chemical engineer, Gorge Derberg said, “If we could use recycled carbon dioxide from the air as an alternative to fossil fuels, we would be able to reduce our carbon footprint by 50 percent.”
However, the CCU market is still in its infancy. There is a need to invest a lot of money in technology and infrastructure. There is no disagreement about the potential of this field.
McKinsey’s consulting firm estimates that the market for carbon dioxide-based products will reach 80 billion to 1 trillion by 2030.
