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In a U.S. First, a Commercial Plant Starts Pulling Carbon From the Air (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 36 points 2 years ago (7 children)

Well, they're using renewable energy to power it. The limestone looks like it's just constantly recycled, so it would be just the initial transport there. Their output is tanks of compressed carbon dioxide which is sent to a concrete maker, so it really depends on how far away the concrete maker is. There's a thing called industrial symbiosis, where manufacturers co-locate so that one factory's waste easily becomes the factory next door's input.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    I'm not very familiar with all this but shouldn't we be hiding the CO2 somehow? I feel like concrete is just going to nudge the can down the road until it breaks down in like 50 years

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    While in 50 years it might not be a great building anymore, it will still be a fantastic pile of rubble. Basically landfill, but it can be reused as gravel for new building projects, too.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The concrete won't release the CO2 when it breaks down, since the quicklime in the cement reacts with CO2 to form limestone. The catch is that quicklime is mainly produced by heating limestone to release CO2, so making extra concrete won't result in net carbon capture. But if the concrete was going to be produced anyway, I suppose it's better to have it absorb the CO2 sooner rather than later.

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