A carbon-negative cement made of CO2
CarbonAir cement is made of Solid Carbon, the by-product of H2-production from (renewable) natural gas by methane pyrolysis. CarbonAir is made for concrete pouring and 3D printing – on-site and for prefabricated parts. CarbonAir will have the same or better functionality than traditional concrete – for buildings made of CO2.
CarbonAir is made from the CO2 in the air
CarbonAir’s main component is solid carbon which is supplemented by a carbon-negative binder. The raw material solid carbon is produced from methane by methane pyrolysis. The methane can come from natural gas or from renewable natural gas (RNG). When it is made from RNG, the entire process becomes carbon negative. RNG, on the other hand, is made from (waste) biomass and this is created by photosynthesis from nature’s CO2. With this supply chain, CarbonAir stores the CO2 as long-lasting building structures. Through recycling, CarbonAir will be kept in the human sphere forever. This makes CarbonAir an important sink for atmospheric CO2.
CarbonAir offers cost-effective decarbonization to 3 industries using 1 combined pathway
The objective of CarbonAir is to provide the cement and building materials industry with an alternative material that not only emits no CO2 during production but which actively removes large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere by its process chain. CarbonAir will be a great opportunity for the oil&gas industry, waste management and the construction industry not only to decarbonize their operations but to build a climate-relevant sink of CO2.
Let’s remove CO2 from the atmosphere
CarbonAir cement and its innovative supply chain make a contribution to decarbonizing industry and reversing climate change – by removing large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Our solution for large scale carbon removal from the atmosphere
CarbonAir will have a global annual production potential comparable to current cement production on the billion tons scale. This output potential will be achieved through an innovative upstream supply chain. In this process chain, atmospheric CO2 is first converted into biomass by natural photosynthesis:
CO2 + H2O = 1/6 C6H12O6 + O2
followed by two basic chemical pathways with two enabling technologies: Waste hydrogenation, the thermochemical conversion of waste biomass to methane using hydrogen
1/6 C6H12O6 + 2H2 = CH4 + H2O
and methane pyrolysis, the thermochemical conversion of methane to solid carbon and hydrogen
CH4 = C + 2H2
resulting in the overall reaction: CO2 = C + O2.
The product of waste hydrogenation is methane, which can be used as renewable natural gas (RNG) for the substitution of fossil natural gas. In the CarbonAir concept, methane will be further converted to solid carbon by methane pyrolysis.
The decarbonization of natural gas by methane pyrolysis – as currently envisaged by the oil and gas industry – is also very attractive, as natural gas production plays in the same output league as cement production. Natural gas could be substituted over time by renewable natural gas (RNG) from waste hydrogenation to achieve a carbon-negative process.
Solid Carbon Stakeholder Platform
We are developing CarbonAir and HYDROGENATE together with leading R&D institutions such as the Engler-Bunte-Institute of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) or Fraunhofer LBF. Let’s come in contact to discuss options for cooperation. Become a member of our Solid Carbon Stakeholder Platform.