Material of the Year: Carbon Negative Concrete

Earlier this year, Material ConneXion, a global materials consultancy, awarded Material of the Year to London-based company Novacem’s “carbon negative” cement. What looks like an assortment of homemade marshmallows above is actually a construction material slated to change the world of concrete when it hits the market in 2014. Click to learn more.
While it functions much like commonly used Portland cement, boasting the same level of performance and the same average cost, Novacem’s concrete mixture uses magnesium silicate instead of calcium carbonates. The slinging of chemistry jargon might make this seem complicated, but the concept is simple: the creation of magnesium carbonates from magnesium silicates absorbs carbon dioxide. In other words, the production process is carbon negative. Furthermore, the production process of Novacem’s concrete is low-energy, allowing it to be sustained on biomass fuels.