Canadian clean tech company CarbonCure Technologies has been named one of two winners in the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, which took place in three rounds over 54 months and challenged participants to convert carbon dioxide emissions into usable products. CarbonCure as well as fellow winner CarbonBuilt received a $7.5 million grand prize.
CarbonCure became one of 38 shortlisted contenders for the global competition in 2015 and in 2020 completed its final technology demonstration in Alberta, Canada.
“Climate change can seem like an insurmountable challenge. Team CarbonCure and our fellow Carbon XPRIZE contenders have demonstrated that the challenge is surmountable and that we have the solutions available today to create meaningful change,” said Jennifer Wagner, CarbonCure president and leader of Team CarbonCure. “The prize money will be used to accelerate our path to our mission of reducing 500 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually by 2030. We’re also committing to build an XPRIZE legacy by investing a portion of the prize funds into social equity initiatives.”
CarbonCure’s XPRIZE project aimed to decarbonize the carbon-intensive process of concrete production. The almost five-year competition showcased the portfolio of CarbonCure’s technologies, in addition to completing the world’s first integrated CO2 capture project from cement kiln emissions with beneficial reuse in concrete production. The final round introduced CarbonCure’s newest commercial technology focused on carbonating reclaimed water – the wastewater generated at concrete plants – to enable the production of concrete with a reduced water, cement and carbon intensity.
“CarbonCure’s solution for the concrete industry exemplifies XPRIZE’s ideal innovation – it is effective, commercially viable, and scalable – and it can make a real difference to climate change today,” said Marcius Extavour, executive director of the Carbon XPRIZE and XPRIZE Foundation vice president of climate and energy.
The use of CO2 in concrete is expected to become a $400 billion market opportunity so solutions like CarbonCure’s are both very timely to respond to climate targets and represent an attractive economic opportunity for heavy industry.
