The ground-breaking mineralization process permanently stores carbon emissions captured from heavy industries in aggregate form, which can then be used to produce carbon-negative concrete.
The new strategic agreement builds on last year’s technical collaboration between Sulzer Chemtech and Blue Planet, and includes investment from Sulzer in Blue Planet’s latest funding round.
Sulzer Chemtech’s separation technology is critical for the development of an efficient and effective carbon capture unit to enable Blue Planet’s geomimetic process for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
Blue Planet’s technology combines captured CO2 with industrial waste to obtain synthetic limestone aggregate – one of the three key ingredients of concrete, along with cement and water. The Blue Planet technology permanently locks up to 440 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) in every tonne of aggregate produced. As a result, it is possible to completely offset the CO2 footprint of cement and produce carbon negative concrete.
Dr Brent Constantz, Blue Planet’s founder and CEO, said: “Sulzer Chemtech has been a solid partner in our joint development, working both in their R&D facility in Winterthur, Switzerland, and at our Global Innovation Center, located at our San Francisco Bay Aggregates plant, where we have been operating a Sulzer Chemtech packed column successfully for several months. Many plants that are in the pipeline globally will benefit from the partnership.”
Dr Suzanne Thoma, executive president of Sulzer, added: “With our portfolio of leading solutions, we are driving sustainable practices across industries. Our collaboration with Blue Planet is a great testimony of that – with concrete currently responsible for 7% of global emissions, this innovative process represents an important step in accelerating the transition to net zero.”
