Paebbl scales up to produce carbon-storing concrete
Posted on 10 Dec 2023. Edited by: John Hunter. Read 1219 times.
www.paebbl.com Paebbl, a Nordic-Dutch company which can permanently turn captured carbon dioxide (CO
2) into a solid carbonate-based (CO
3) composite, has successfully transitioned to pilot-scale batch production, just months after transitioning from laboratory to bench-scale. The new 500L batch production unit, called ‘Obelix’ grows Paebbl’s CO
2-processing capacity 100-times in less than six months.
Through Obelix, Paebbl will take a first step in scaling up production in order to meet early customer demand for permanent, carbon-storing industrial materials. For every tonne of CO
2 Paebbl stores through its proprietary process, it generates up to 2.5 tonnes of material — which, in turn, could be used to substitute today’s heavily emitting alternatives. This gives the company’s process a ‘carbon leverage effect’; each tonne of stored CO
2 helps further avoid emissions elsewhere. Obelix intends to produce up to 100 tonnes of carbon-storing materials annually.
Paebbl expects to start shipping samples produced by Obelix to early adopter customers across the Benelux and Nordic regions from the beginning of next year. The materials produced in Obelix will have an ultra-low CO2 footprint, a step closer to truly carbon-negative products, which store more CO2 than what is generated in the process. The next scale-up step will be a ten-fold continuously operating pilot plant, expected to be online by the end of 2024. This coming step, while increasing Paebbl’s production capacity further, will produce CO2-negative materials and serve as an important step in de-risking the technology for full commercialisation. Paebbl accounts in-full for its carbon footprint for scope 1, 2, 3, and 4 emissions.
Paebbl co-founder and co-CEO Andreas Saari, said: “With over two decades of research going into our technology, Obelix is a clear statement of intent that we are committed to meeting the strong industry demand for our products. It is an important milestone that will allow us to cater to the wider industry, and the next step on our path to decarbonise the built environment - which currently accounts for 38% of global carbon emissions. Our current mission is to scale up our technology as fast as possible so that we can meet the needs of the market and the planet.”
Through its patented technology, Paebbl accelerates the natural mineralisation process by a factor of over a million by getting captured CO2 to react with abundant silicate minerals in an energy-efficient industrial process - what takes the planet centuries, Paebbl can do in one hour.
Once Paebbl processes the CO2, a rock powder is produced. The silica-enriched mineral product can be used as an inert industrial filler or as an ingredient in building materials such as concrete, with the ability to bring the CO2 footprint of concrete down by up to 70%. The company aims to bring to market a cost-competitive commodity material already from its first commercial facility.