immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Atmosphäre

  • Research into concrete as a carbon sink

    Research into concrete as a carbon sink

    Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology(Empa) want to remove large quantities of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with the Mining the Atmosphere working group. According to a press release, 5 to 10 billion tonnes of carbon could be used annually as concrete aggregate. This would be enough to permanently store the excess CO2 within 100 years after the energy transition and thus bring the atmosphere back to a climate-friendly level. This is estimated to be 400 billion tonnes of carbon or the equivalent of around 1500 billion tonnes of CO2.

    However, surplus renewable energy is needed to realise this. This is the only way to convert the carbon dioxide into methane or methanol and then process it into polymers, hydrogen or solid carbon. “These calculations are based on the assumption that sufficient renewable energy will be available after 2050,” Pietro Lura, Head of Empa’s Concrete and Asphalt Department, is quoted as saying in the press release.

    However, the amount of building materials required worldwide far exceeds the surplus carbon in the atmosphere. “Even if sufficient renewable energy is available, the key question remains as to how these huge amounts of carbon can be stored in the long term,” Lura continues. The researchers see one approach here in the production of silicon carbide, which can be used as a filler in building materials and the production of asphalt. This should bind the carbon in the long term and have excellent mechanical properties. However, Lura describes the production process as extremely energy-intensive. Production still requires considerable material and processing research in order to make it economically viable.

  • CO2 removal in building materials: CDR alliance grows

    CO2 removal in building materials: CDR alliance grows

    Over the next few years, NextGen CDR will purchase CO2 removed from the air and permanently stored in building materials (carbon dioxide removal, CDR) from the Bern-based company Neustark at 18 locations. The CDR alliance includes Mitsubishi, South Pole, UBS and SwissRe.Neustark will ensure the high-quality, permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere for NextGen CDR in the coming years. The two companies have signed a multi-year agreement to this effect, according to a press release.

    The CO2 will be removed by Neustark at its sites in Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, France, the UK and other European countries. The Bern-based ClimateTech company has developed an innovative process that captures biogenic CO2 at source.

    “We turned the world’s largest waste stream – demolition concrete – and other mineral waste materials into carbon sinks,” explains Neustark’s Head of CDR, Lisa Braune. “Partnering with carbon removal pioneers like NextGen is critical to scaling the impact of the CDR industry.”

    According to NextGen, NextGen has already removed 1500 tonnes of CO2. With 120,000 tonnes of high-quality carbon removal sold to various organisations, Neustark is among the top 10 worldwide.

    According to NextGen GDR, the alliance was “developed specifically for corporate buyers committed to Net Zero targets. It makes durable, high-quality CDRs accessible at a target price of $200 per tonne.” NextGen CDR is operated by Zurich-based climate consultancy South Pole and Mitsubishi Corporation, and supported by founding buyers Boston Consulting Group, Liechtenstein-based LGT Group, Tokyo-based shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Zurich-based reinsurer Swiss Re and major bank UBS. NextGen CDR plans to purchase a total of 1 million tonnes of CDR by 2025.

  • Empa launches research initiative on CO2 recycling

    Empa launches research initiative on CO2 recycling

    For Empa, a net zero in CO2 emissions is only an interim goal. Its researchers are looking for a holistic solution approach in which CO2 is not only captured and stored in the soil. “The goal is to develop an entirely new global economic model and the associated industrial sector that converts CO2 as the raw material of the future into value-added materials to replace conventional building materials and petrochemicals,” Empa writes in a corresponding press release.

    To this end, Empa has launched the research initiative Mining the Atmosphere. Instead of focusing on mining raw materials in underground mines, atmospheric mines are to be increasingly exploited in the future. The aim is to “remove an estimated 400 billion tonnes of carbon (i.e. around 1500 billion tonnes of CO2) from the atmosphere”, explains Empa. The research institute estimates that “countless players from research and industry will have to work together” to tackle this “task of the century”.

    The research initiative Mining the Atmosophere will kick off with two events in October and November. In the edition of wissen2go on 25 October, interested parties can learn about negative emission technologies. Empa is accepting registrations for the event online.

    On 7 November, Empa invites “stakeholders, practitioners and researchers from the construction, buildings and infrastructure, energy, environment and sustainability sectors” to the RFA Built Environment Mining the Atmosphere seminar. Here, the research institute will present relevant work of its own. Registrations are possible online until 30 October.

  • Five technologies on the way to net zero

    Five technologies on the way to net zero

    The TA-Swiss study aims to inform policy-makers and the public about the opportunities, limits and risks of different methods for CO2 extraction and storage. Aspects such as feasibility, climate effectiveness, costs, resource consumption and impacts on the environment and population were considered.

    The five technologies are:

    • the storage of CO2 as biomass in forests and the use of wood
    • storage in the form of humus in the soil and the use of plant carbon
    • capture and storage of CO2 from biomass combustion (BECCS)
    • removal from the air and storage (DACCS)
    • the accelerated weathering of demolition concrete and rock (carbonation)

    Each of the five NETs was assessed based on the current state of knowledge and with the help of expert interviews. Potential opportunities, risks, synergies and conflicts were identified and considered from a system perspective. Based on this, general and specific, technology-related options for action and recommendations were derived and reflected on together with selected stakeholders.

    The most important general recommendations of the study
    In order for NET’s contribution to the net-zero target to be implemented in an environmentally and socially compatible manner, politics and society should address the issue at an early stage. This requires in particular that the public is involved in shaping the conditions of use of NET by means of fact-based and comprehensible information.

    There is a need for an overarching strategy for the use of limited resources, such as renewable energy, water, biomass and soil, and for financing for the development and implementation of NET.

    Further research is needed to determine the potential of the different technologies.

    It must be possible to record the amount of CO2 removed from the atmosphere in the long term in a transparent and simple way to create a reliable assessment framework and avoid counting the same CO2 more than once.

    The minimum period of CO2 fixation from which a technology or NET project is recognised in terms of the Climate Strategy should be reflected.

    NETs can only be used as a supplement to the priority reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when achieving the net zero target. Therefore, it is important that separate targets apply to the reduction of CO2 emissions and to CO2 removal.

    Switzerland currently has a pioneering role in the development of NET. This competitive advantage should be further strengthened by promoting the relevant research and development, as well as demonstration projects.

  • UBS works with Climeworks and neustark

    UBS works with Climeworks and neustark

    UBS has entered into a long-term collaboration with Climeworks and neustark . According to the UBS press release , the two cleantech companies are to permanently remove a total of 39,500 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere for the bank. The agreement has a term of 13 years. It is intended to give Climeworks and neustark planning security and make a contribution to UBS's net-zero goal by 2025.

    Both Climeworks and neustark are spin-offs from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich . Both are dedicated to permanently removing CO2 from the air, but with different methods.

    Zurich-based Climeworks is now one of the so-called unicorns with a market capitalization of over CHF 1 billion. The company captures CO2 from the air at its Orca facility in Iceland, powered by renewable energy. It is then stored underground in basalt rock for thousands of years using the Carbfix method. Orca is the largest carbon capture and storage facility in the world.

    Neustark from Bern permanently stores the CO2 extracted from the air in recycled concrete. The concrete granulate enriched in this way allows the cement content in fresh concrete to be reduced and improves its climate balance by around 10 percent. This enables neustark to produce what it says is the most climate-friendly concrete in Switzerland.

    "With this commitment, UBS shows its pioneering role in the area of climate protection and hopefully inspires others to follow this example," said Valentin Gutknecht, co-founder and co-CEO of neustark. "Long-term off-take agreements are an important prerequisite for the much-needed expansion of carbon capture technologies."

  • Biochar makes the Swiss more sustainable

    Biochar makes the Swiss more sustainable

    The Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival ( ESAF ), which is held every three years, will take place in Pratteln from August 26th to 28th this year. Subsequently, Industrielle Werke Basel ( IWB ) will process the 245 cubic meters of sawdust used for the sawdust rings and the wood chips from other areas of the festival site into around 8 tons of biochar, IWB informed in a statement . Around 20 tons of CO2 are stored long-term in this biochar. The project is part of the federal government's sustainability strategy.

    Sawdust is in itself a climate-friendly material because it is CO2-neutral, explains IWB. However, the conversion into biochar further improves the CO2 balance. Because the biochar obtained in the pyrolysis process in the absence of oxygen and at temperatures of 600 degrees Celsius removes the CO2 from the atmosphere over the long term. As a "welcome by-product", the pyrolysis also produces waste heat, which IWB feeds into the district heating network.