Carbonated building materials can be produced with minimal changes to existing infrastructure. Many cement and concrete facilities can integrate carbonation into existing processes or curing stages. The use of industrial byproducts like steel slag and fly ash also supports circularity, turning waste materials into carbon sinks.
‍
With over 30 billion tonnes of concrete produced each year, utilizing CO₂ in construction materials is recognized as one of the most promising pathways for carbon sequestration. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, this is offering a $400 billion market opportunity and the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete by up to 1.4 gigatonnes of CO₂, providing a practical solution for hard-to-abate emissions in the built environment.
‍
Although the technology has been widely tested, the commercial utilization of CO₂ in construction materials is still in the early scale-up phase. To enable large-scale adoption, sector-wide material norms and regulations will need to adapt to accept new materials.