Grant: Alliance Grants

The overall goal of this project is to develop waste biomass-based adsorbents (biochar) to capture carbon from point sources (engine stacks, vents, etc.), and then to use the carbon-loaded biochars to replace non-renewable components in construction materials. This reduces the carbon footprint of industries critical to Canada's economy: forestry/fishery, energy generation/production, and cement/asphalt producers. In addition, we seek to enhance the sustainability of rural and remote communities by providing a process (carbon capture) and product (construction material) that are accessible to these regions. Our partnership includes: energy industries who are seeking sustainable solutions to decrease their carbon footprint, the cement/asphalt industry looking to incorporate more sustainable materials to their products and an industry incubator located in a remote location. We will collaborate with these partners to develop a truly circular approach to capture, store, and utilize carbon from stationary point sources. Storing captured carbon in cement/mortar is particularly appealing in remote and rural locations where costs related to production and disposal infrastructure can limit economic development. Our strategy is a cradle-to-cradle approach in greenhouse gas (GHG) management, where the waste from one industry is used to treat another's waste and then stored in a useful carbon-fixed product.