How Arizona Small Businesses Are Contributing to Decarbonizing Concrete

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Block-Lite is a small concrete manufacturer in the industrial corridor of Flagstaff, Arizona. A third generation family business manufactures bricks and other masonry for retaining walls, driveways and landscaping projects. The company is already a regional leader in sustainability, and in 2020 became the first manufacturer in Flagstaff to power its operations with on-site solar panels. But now it’s doing something more ambitious.

On Tuesday, Block-Lite announced a pioneering collaboration with climate technology startups Aircapture and CarbonBuilt to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and trap it in concrete blocks. The companies estimate that the project will reduce the carbon footprint of Block-Lite products by 70% and create a model that can reshape the industry.

Concrete causes big problems for the climate. It is one of the literal building blocks of society, more carbon intensive growth every year. Most of its carbon does not come from making concrete, but from making its main component, cement.Cement production is partly to blame 10% of industrial carbon emissions in the United States

CarbonBuilt has developed a solution to this problem in two different ways. First, the company found a unique way to replace cement with a mix of cheap, locally sourced industrial waste. CEO Rahul Shendure told Grist that it includes common by-products of coal-fired power plants, steel manufacturing and chemical production. His second feat for the company is how the device hardens slurry into concrete blocks. In other words, it is solidified with carbon dioxide. That’s where he comes in with Aircapture. The company plans to build one of his machines on the Block-Lite site that will extract carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air.

“Our technology is very flexible about where we source the CO2 from,” said Shendure. “What is particularly different about this project is that we are sourcing carbon dioxide from direct air capture technology.”

This is an idea that a few other companies are pursuing. In February, a similar partnership was struck between another direct air recovery company called Heirloom and concrete startup CarbonCure. showed the process for the first timeAlso, this is not CarbonBuilt’s first project. Alabama concrete factory called Blair BlockIn that case, CO2 is produced by burning biomass in a boiler.

The Flagstaff project, in part, Four Corners Carbon Coalitionis a group of southwestern local governments pooling resources to fund projects to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The coalition was born out of the realization that communities with ambitious goals to become carbon neutral will likely need to invest in such solutions, many of which are still in their early stages.

Susie Strife, Sustainability Director for Boulder County, Colorado, said: Union, said in an interview with Grist last year. “We are trying to aggregate resources and create something of a municipal platform for carbon removal.”

Read the following: Why Boulder County and Flagstaff are joining cities to suck carbon out of the atmosphere

In addition to the funding, Shendur said the company will sell carbon credits to reduce the carbon emissions AirCapture equipment emits from the atmosphere and by reducing the use of cement. “We have received a letter of intent from the buyer, which is very important for this project,” he said. “Many companies are now paying premium credit prices for emerging technologies, making them more available in the real world.”

Block-Lite did not respond to Grist’s inquiry, press release“Sustainable building materials too often require trade-offs between cost and performance, but this project’s unique The big thing is that there is no ‘green premium,'” said Block-Lite. “We should be able to manufacture on-spec ultra-low-carbon blocks at prices comparable to conventional blocks, accelerating adoption and impact.”

This article originally appeared on Grist and https://grist.org/technology/how-a-small-business-in-arizona-is-helping-decarbonize-concrete/Grist is a non-profit independent media organization dedicated to communicating climate change solutions and a just future.Click here for details Grist.org