Novacem has launched carbon negative cement, which has received the Material of the Year for 2010 award from Material ConneXion. This cement from Novacem has also received recognition from Technology Review and the Wall Street Journal. While giving the award, Material ConneXion stated that Novacem has developed a new class of cement which will offer performance and cost parity with ordinary Portland cement, but with a carbon negative footprint. It is uniquely positioned to meet the challenge of reducing cement industry carbon emissions. According to the company, their MgO-based cement not only does not emit CO2, but also absorbs it. According to the company’s spokes person, "Our cement is based on magnesium oxide (MgO) and hydrated magnesium carbonates. Our production process uses accelerated carbonation of magnesium silicates under elevated levels of temperature and pressure (ie, 180?C/150 bar). The carbonates produced are heated at low temperatures (700?C) to produce MgO, with the CO2 generated being recycled back in the process. The use of magnesium silicates eliminates the CO2 emissions from raw materials processing. In addition, the low temperatures required allow use of fuels with low energy content or carbon intensity (ie, biomass), thus further reducing carbon emissions. Additionally, production of the carbonates absorbs CO2; they are produced by carbonating part of the manufactured MgO using atmospheric/industrial CO2. Overall, the production process to make one tonne of Novacem cement absorbs up to 100 kg more CO2 than it emits, making it a carbon negative product."
Contact: Novacem Limited London – UK Tel: +44 (0) 20 7594 3580 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7594 1