CO2 Concrete: CarbonCure’s Gamble on Construction

This podcast episode describes the environmental impact of traditional concrete production, noting that cement is a significant contributor to global CO2 emissions, which drives the need for more sustainable building materials like CO2 concrete. It explains that CO2 concrete incorporates carbon dioxide into the manufacturing process, often through carbon mineralization, where CO2 is permanently stored within the concrete matrix by reacting with calcium ions to form calcium carbonate. Specifically, it details CarbonCure's technology, which injects precise amounts of captured CO2 into fresh concrete, and can be easily integrated into existing concrete plants. The source highlights the dual benefits of CarbonCure concrete, including significant reductions in embodied carbon through both direct CO2 sequestration and allowing for a decrease in carbon-intensive cement usage due to enhanced early strength. Finally, it indicates that CarbonCure concrete often demonstrates improved or equivalent performance compared to traditional concrete across various properties like strength, workability, and durability.