Carbonaide raises EUR1.8m to make manufacturing concrete carbon negative

Carbonaide, a spin-out company from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland that enables the manufacture of carbon-negative concrete, has raised EUR1.8m in seed funding led by Lakan Betoni and Vantaa Energy. 

Carbonaide is building the world's first industrial pilot production line at its factory in Finland that can make carbon-negative concrete using industrial side streams and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage technology (CCUS). Carbonaide now aims to disrupt the US$130bn/year global market of precast concrete.
 

Carbonaide’s solution is based on an effective carbonation method, which binds CO₂ into precast concrete using an automated system at atmospheric pressure. The technology can halve the CO₂ emissions of traditional Portland cement concrete by reducing the required cement content and mineralising CO₂ into concrete.

When industrial side streams, such as industry slags, green liquor dregs, and bio-ash, are used in the binding process instead of normal cement, the result is concrete with a negative carbon footprint. In the process, CO₂ is permanently stored and removed from the carbon cycle

Last autumn, Carbonaide demonstrated lowering its products’ carbon footprint to -60kg/m³ by replacing Portland cement with slag. 

The funding round was completed with public loans and in-kind contributions from Business Finland and other Finnish concrete companies and strategic investors. The company will use the funding to integrate its CO₂ curing technology into an automated production line at its precast concrete factory in Hollola, Finland.

With its factory-sized pilot unit and fully operational value chain, Carbonaide can mineralise up to 5t of CO₂ per day and increase production of its carbon-negative concrete products 100-fold.