Chevron-Backed Blue Planet Makes Construction Sustainable
The construction industry is responsible for a staggering 38% of global CO₂ emissions and consumes half of all raw materials worldwide.
Quarrying for aggregate is the largest extractive industry on earth and results in the destruction of virgin habitats and farmland.
Blue Planet Solutions, backed by Chevron, Mitsubishi and HOLCIM, has a transformative approach that could reshape the industry.
David Gottfried, Chief Commercial Officer at Blue Planet Solutions, explains: "We can do much more in the Scope 3 area to reduce embodied carbon and ramp up efficiencies in older buildings or replacing them while deconstructing their existing carbon into new buildings in a circular way."
Meet Blue Planet Solutions
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in California, Blue Planet Solutions has set an ambitious mission to "mineralise billions of tonnes of CO₂ per year in the built environment".
The company has developed a groundbreaking process to produce aggregate, concrete, and limestone using CO₂ and waste materials.
What sets Blue Planet apart is its ability to utilise CO₂ from any source, unlike other carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) solutions that require liquid CO₂.
Each tonne of Blue Planet aggregate contains an impressive 440kg of sequestered CO₂, which remains permanently captured.
The company says its limestone aggregate sequesters so much CO₂ in concrete that it can render an entire building carbon negative.
This approach not only addresses the industry's carbon footprint but also transforms structures into active carbon sinks.
The company's circular solution involves upcycling used concrete, extracting calcium for reuse in the process.
Additionally, Blue Planet limestone exhibits exceptional solar reflectance properties, surpassing average roof shingles by nearly threefold.
This characteristic contributes to reduced cooling needs and associated energy consumption in buildings.
Blue Planet’s supporters
Blue Planet's potential to revolutionise the construction industry has not gone unnoticed by major players in the energy sector.
American multinational energy company Chevron has backed Blue Planet.
Barbara Burger, VP of Innovation and President of Technology Ventures at Chevron, says: "Carbon capture, utilisation and storage, or CCUS, is viewed to be essential to advancing progress toward the global net zero ambition of the Paris Agreement."
“This investment is made through our Future Energy Fund which focuses on startups with lower-carbon technologies that can scale commercially, and we welcome Blue Planet to this portfolio.”
“Chevron is a leader in scouting and identifying innovative and game-changing approaches to lower-carbon intensity,” says Brent Constantz, Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist at Blue Planet.
“The investment may also provide future opportunities to incorporate Blue Planet’s approach into Chevron’s projects.”
Another supporter of Blue Planet is Marathon Petroleum, an American petroleum refining, marketing and transportation company owned by Marathon Oil.
Brent says: “We are pleased to have the technical and commercial support of Marathon Petroleum at this critical phase of the scale up and commercialization of our low and negative embodied carbon building materials.”
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