Startup's breakthrough could revolutionize infrastructure.
CarbonBuilt, a startup based in Los Angeles, has partnered with Blair Block to produce low-carbon concrete at a plant in Alabama. The company claims that its novel tech concrete can reduce the production of harmful carbon emissions by 70 to 100%. CarbonBuilt uses calcium-rich industrial waste materials to produce concrete, which is then combined with water and aggregates and moved into a temperature-controlled chamber. The process funnels harmful planet-warming gases into the chamber, stimulating a chemical reaction that creates solid concrete and permanently traps the toxic gases in the concrete blocks. If this technology were used globally, it could prevent around a billion metric tons of harmful carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere every year.