CO2 Mineralisation: Conversion of Waste to New Building Materials

Project Information

MIN CO2

Grant agreement ID: 101189403

DOI

10.3030/101189403

Project closed

EC signature date 22 August 2024

Start date 1 September 2024

End date 28 February 2026

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 150 000,00

Coordinated by

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MIN CO2 (CO2 Mineralisation: Conversion of Waste to New Building Materials)

Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2026-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MIN CO2
CO2 Mineralisation: Conversion of Waste to New Building Materials
ERC Proof of Concept

The problem:
Society urgently needs sustainable solutions for carbon capture and storage, to mitigate the effects of climate change. Current solutions for carbon capture, storage and use are expensive, require extensive infrastructure and in many cases, they only put an additional loop in the carbon cycle. They “store” CO2 rather than converting it to a stable solid and they generate additional sustainability problems through their high energy consumption and their need for long term monitoring because the CO2 remains in fluid form. We need an easy, cheap, environmentally friendly way to take CO2 out of air and water and put it away, permanently as a solid, that is stable long term.

New technologies create fossil free energy and convert some forms of waste to valuable commodities. However, inorganic and noncombustible waste, such as from demolished buildings, bridges and roads, is often simply used as roadfill or dumped in landfills, taking valuable land out of production. Both as landfill and roadfill, burial precludes reuse as a resource. Society needs a technology that can create higher value from noncombustible solid waste.

Concrete is made from gravel, sand, water and cement (the stuff that sticks the other components together). Cement production is a significant contributor to global CO2 emissions. More sustainable materials are available but they are not suitable for all types of construction so concrete use will continue. The construction industry needs lower CO2 footprint concrete.

The goal:
MIN CO2 tested the potential for innovation and commercialisation of an idea for solving all three challenges, namely sustainable carbon capture, reuse of noncombustible waste and production of lower CO2 footprint concrete, with a single solution, that would work at the factory chimney – and generate income from the product.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Research and Innovation:
Questions, that came out of twenty five years of research in European Commission projects on the CO2 mineralisation capacity of basalt (black, volcanic rock) and development of the CarbFix method in Iceland, formed the base for DRIAD, our ERC Advanced Grant. That project aims to make a general framework for understanding the mechanisms of dissolution and secondary phase formation resulting from weathering of alkaline (basic) silicate minerals and rocks. From our work came the idea of trapping CO2 using other materials, such as demolition waste, especially waste concrete and stone wool insulation. These are also alkaline and can donate divalent cations such as calcium and magnesium, in the same way as basalt. If waste building materials could be used to trap CO2 as new carbonate minerals, we could solve several problems at the same time, namely: i) increase sustainability, ii) trap atmospheric CO2 as a solid and iii) produce a new building material.

Current solutions for CCS capture and storage are expensive and require extensive infrastructure, transport and energy but if this idea works, the technology will at least break even or could generate income. Our estimates suggest ~50 €/T from the sale of the end product. MIN CO2 was designed to test the concept and optimise the system parameters, first at bench scale, then design, build and test a laboratory prototype reactor, where rate of reaction and formation of a minimum viable product could be achieved. We tested batch and flowthrough processes. CO2 was bubbled through the reactor and calcite formed. The amount scaled with input material and time in the reactor.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Results and Impact:
Our project began at TRL 2, with the research question. During the 18 months of MINCO2, we reached TRL 4, where we have proven the concept. We had already applied for a patent and we plan for others to follow. Our market analysis resulted in a business model, where parameters can be varied to test profitability of a number of scenarios. Discussions with potential partners (waste suppliers, a local waste-to-energy plant and a concrete company) bode well for the future implementation of the new knowledge and stakeholders are interested in investing. The next steps, in the future, would be to increase rate of reaction and then scale up to a factory pilot, which would move the concept to TRL 6. Our long term goal is a startup, that sells CO2 Traps and knowhow for installation into existing factory chimneys, for European and eventually global markets. Initial discussions with members of the public and the media range from positive to enthusiastic because most of society’s fears about CCS are avoided with our approach. Our method captures CO2 without the huge energy costs typically needed for regenerating capture compounds and rather than “storing” the carbon in underground reservoirs, where it could take 1,000 to 10,000 years to mineralise if it ever does, our method converts the CO2 gas into solid carbonate minerals, that are stable for geologic time.