Farmed Carbon’s Post

Wonderful! Low carbon concrete has been an avenue of perseverance for myself out here in Japan. Europe is more advanced, with companies like Isohemp (Belgium) making precast bricks from…hemp. Probably not as load bearing as the Portland block but they are light, and have multiple advantages in addition to being carbon negative. Including fire resistance, capacity to breathe allowing aeration thereby reducing building mould - perfect for humid climates with hot summers and cold winters! They have amazing heat and noise insulation properties- better than concrete! Hempcrete blocks are ideal for interior refurbishing of older homes and apartments and can be viably applied to smaller buildings (up to 2m load bearing). They can be used with buildings of any size that have an existing wood or steel skeleton infrastructure. Irrelevant issues over CHP levels have been raised, as this hemp is not made from the smokeable kind! Hempcrete requires the ground stalk/branch (not leaf) cortex of the hemp plant and lime. Natural hemp has been used in traditional construction in Japan for over 1000 years, including fabrication of ropes for temples! Low carbon concrete technologies are ripe for broad market adoption.

All the more important that in certain regions (inc Europe) CO2 injection into wells is far more difficult and costly than in the US, where DAC in particular is typically co-located with EPA approved class VI wells.

Are you accounting for the co2 emitted in straw collection and charring, and in char distribution. Did you account for co2 naturally sequestered by charring in place on the field, and rain-watering in? At present, concrete blocks from demolished structures may be crushed for use as engineered fill. Have you accounted for slow degradation to scattered small particle sizes?

Interesting part of the solution here.

The "Carb-loc Besser Bloc," a building block made of a cement-substitute, rice straw-based bio-char, isn't currently listed as one of this Australia-based start-up's products, but it does appear to be well on in development. The company is called Farmed Carbon (https://lnkd.in/dWfaUuSR). I don't yet see evidence of any of their products in mass-production. I don't see, for instance, how I'd buy any of them, get them imported to the United States. They claim the block costs the same to produce as cement blocks, but since they're not selling it yet, I can't verify that anywhere. They appear to be still constructing ways of mass-producing their other products, which for the moment appear to try to offer alternative ingredients to construction materials that ensure carbon-neutral or carbon-negative sources. I see updates about them building facilities that can produce a lot of product per hour, but not that they're online. Examples of their other products are a biologically derived form of bitumen, which is a kind of binding agent often used in producing pavement, but that is traditionally derived from crude oil. Their "bio-bitumen" product offers a partial replacement that ensures 1.5 tones of carbon credit per 1 ton of bio-bitumen, which, depending on how much is mixed in, could end up resulting in carbon negative pavement. They also produce bio-char, wood vinegar, and Syngas (a high-hydrogen content gas that they use in running their own operations). I love a start-up with capable engineers and real focus on real-world solutions. For instance, focusing on rice straw as a starting resource addresses the preponderance of waste-product already produced in growing rice as a consumable product. We consume only a very small portion of the overall plant. The most common current way of getting rid of that product is burning it after harvest. Every year across Asia 300 million tonnes of it are released into the atmosphere as smoke; emissions and air pollutants that triple the risks of increased respiratory diseases, and that contributes to accelerating climate change. It's smart entrepreneurship to make such ingenious use of a product that people want to throw away, anyway. You can offer to take it off their hands for little more cost than collection and transport, and they're already saving on carbon by keeping it from being burned. I'd be curious to see how much of it they can reuse and whether or not there is still waste product at the end, and how they dispose of that. Secondly, they're using processes that minimize or sequester carbon. For instance, they produce/capture a hydrogen-rich gas they call Syngas, and then use it to power their own industrial processes, resulting in carbon-neutral production; a quality they can pass on to their products, so for instance they can claim 1.5 tons of carbon credit on 1 ton of actual material created/sold. I'm curious to see how the finances work out, when they can actually sell their products.

🌐 The Concrete Impact: Cement and Global CO2 Emissions 🌐 A staggering 8% of global CO2 emissions come from cement production, highlighting a critical area for climate action in our industries. As we advance in construction, the imperative for sustainable practices and innovative solutions has never been greater. Let's discuss how we can build a more sustainable future together. #cement #emissions #CO2 #climate #Sustainability #InnovationInConstruction

Exciting interview on the impact of Carbon Limit, with our technology CaptureCrete. 🌱 Well done Tim Sperry! 🚀 If you are curious about Carbon Limit's impact and have any questions, feel free to connect. #SustainableConstruction #Innovation #decarbonizing

𝐔𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨® 𝐁 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞! The use of anti-sapstain products such as Sinesto® B allows for natural air drying of wood through wind and sun. The growth of blue stain and mold fungi on wood is mainly favored by moisture, in addition to warm temperatures. On dry wood, the growth is significantly slowed down. Therefore, wood drying serves as a good protective mechanism. There are two options „natural“ and kiln drying, whereas the natural drying process has a much lower global warming impact: 1.     Only approx. 80 tons of CO₂ are emitted by natural drying of 100.000 cubic meters of wood by solar energy: Sinesto® B offers an effective protection against blue stain and mold growth during this time. 2.     Between 2.500 – 8.500 tons of CO₂ are emitted, during the technical kiln drying of 100.000 cubic meters of wood, depending on the plant’s efficiency and energy source: in this case, energy such as electricity and heat is used for wood drying. This energy needs to be generated through the burning of gas, oil, or wood. Wood as an energy source can be classified as CO₂ neutral – however, there are high opportunity costs involved here because the "cheap" energy might not necessarily need to be used for wood drying but could also be sold, for example, to supply surrounding residential buildings. Use wood preservatives safely. Always read the label and product information before use. #Sika #SikaSpirit #WOLMAN #Woodprotection #holzschutzrettetklima #holzrettetklima

The cement and concrete industry’s biggest challenge is reducing CO2 emissions while keeping up with the increasing demand for residential buildings around the world. But with Carbon Upcycling’s novel technology, it is now possible to reduce the GHG footprint of cement by almost half! #ClimateAction 👏

How long will the CO2 be stored? Iron dust fertilization is a Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technique that mimics this natural system, artificially adding iron to the ocean's surface to stimulate the growth of CO2-absorbing phytoplankton. However, we don't know how long the captured carbon dioxide would be stored. While the ocean can stockpile millions of tons of the gas for a century or more, there's a catch: it must sink below the surface if it stays in solid form. But it doesn't necessarily do that. https://lnkd.in/dApPrRQ4.