Reversing Climate Change S2E16: Can we cure concrete's emissions problem?—w/ Rob Niven of CarbonCure
Concrete is an incredibly useful and highly resilient building material. And with population growth and urbanization, we are on pace to double everything we’ve ever built in the next 40 years. At the same time, concrete production accounts for as much as 8% of global emissions. So, how can we continue to reap the benefits of concrete in a way that complies with our climate goals?
Robert Niven is the Founder and CEO of CarbonCure, a company that recycles waste carbon dioxide to make stronger and greener concrete. They are also one of the four companies chosen by Stripe for its first negative emissions purchases. Today, Rob joins Ross and Christophe to explain how concrete is traditionally produced and what CarbonCure does differently to permanently mineralize carbon in concrete, both improving its quality and reducing its carbon footprint.
Rob weighs in on embodied carbon, sharing the benefits of CarbonCure’s solution in terms of scalability and cost, and discusses the potential for his process to eventually use direct air capture as a source of CO2. Listen in as Rob introduces us to his audacious goal of reducing emissions by 500 megatons per year and learn how we can accelerate the change with procurement policy and carbon offsets.
Resources
Stripe’s Negative Emissions Commitment
Stripe’s First Negative Emissions Purchases
CarbonCure’s Cake Analogy Video
Bill Gates’ Resources on Climate & Energy
Hawaii’s Concrete Procurement Policy