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Calera Corporation operates in the area of Directory:CO2 Sequestration. They claim to have developed a nature-mimicing process that converts CO2, such as from a coal power plant, into cement. If company claims are true, they would be thus removing CO2 from the atmosphere in while making a product that usually produces a lot of CO2. The company claims to be in a position to help reverse human-caused global warming and ocean acidification. However, climate scientists and chemists have raised questions regarding the process and whether it actually sequesters carbon, or simply moves carbon release to a different manufacturing process step.

Their "cementitious material" is a kind of chalk which can be mixed Portland cement at up to 5%

: "For every ton of cement we make, we are sequestering half a ton of CO2. We probably have the best carbon capture and storage technique there is by a long shot." -- Brent Constantz, crystallographer and founder of Calera.

: "It is clearly a case of public misrepresentation: They claimed they could sequester CO2 with seawater and they cannot...

They claimed to be selling gold, but it turned out to be fool's gold." -- Ken Caldeira, Stanford climate and ocean scientist.

About

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Official Website

http://www.calera.biz

How it Works

Quoting from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=cement-from-carbon-dioxide

The Calera process essentially mimics marine cement, which is produced by coral when making their shells and reefs, taking the calcium and magnesium in seawater and using it to form carbonates at normal temperatures and pressures. "We are turning CO2 into carbonic acid and then making carbonate," Constantz says. "All we need is water and pollution."

The company employs spray dryers that utilize the heat in the flue gas to dry the slurry that results from mixing the water and pollution. "A gas-fired power plant is basically like attaching a jet engine to the ground," Constantz notes. "We use the waste heat of the flue gas. They're just shooting it up into the atmosphere anyway."

In essence, the company is making chalk, and that's the color of the resulting cement: snow white. Once dried, the Calera cement can be used as a replacement for the Portland cement that is typically blended with rock and other material to make the concrete in everything from roads to buildings.

Quoting from http://groups.google.com/group/climateintervention/browse_thread/thread/7b5ff4ee64ce759d

It is well known that the dissolution of carbonate minerals in the ocean

causes CO2 to be transferred from the atmosphere to the ocean through a

process characterized by the net reaction

(1) CO2 + H2O + CaCO3 --> Ca2+ + 2HCO3-

A number of authors have discussed ways to accelerate these reactions to

store carbon in the ocean, neutralize carbon acidity, or both (e.g. Rau,

Kheshgi. Harvey, etc). The idea of diminishing atmospheric CO2 content by

dissolving carbonate minerals is discussed in the IPCC Special Report on

Carbon Capture and Storage which has been reviewed by many people including

prominent marine chemists. Reaction (1) is a well established net reaction

involving dissolution of carbonate minerals in the ocean.

It is also well known that the formation of carbonate minerals from

seawater, such as in the formation of coral skeletons, drives a flux of CO2

from the ocean to the atmosphere, essentially driving reaction (1) in

reverse:

(2) Ca2+ + 2HCO3- --> CO2 + H2O + CaCO3

Furthermore, precipitating carbonates from seawater tends to lower ocean pH

and thus exacerbate the ocean acidification problem.

Against this background it is surprising to see the company Calera claiming

to sequester carbon dioxide by forming carbonate minerals where the cations

are taken from seawater -- trying to drive the above reaction in the

opposite direction to what would diminish atmospheric CO2.

Costs

Unit costs as well as energy costs, e.g. cents/kw-h, including factors such as installation, maintenance, decommissioning relative to other renewable technologies as well as relative to conventional energy products.

Advantages

CO2 sequestration rather than production.

Applications

Cement fabrication

Patents

list here

Profiles

Founder: Brent Constantz

Company: Calera Corporation

The privately-held company was founded in 2007 and is based in Los Gatos, California.

Coverage

In the News

Directory:Global Warming > Directory:CO2 Sequestration >Cement from CO2: A Concrete Cure for Global Warming? - While Calera's process of making calcium carbonate cement wouldn't eliminate all CO2 emissions, it would reverse that equation. "For every ton of cement we make, we are sequestering half a ton of CO2," says crystallographer Brent Constantz, founder of Calera. "We probably have the best carbon capture and storage technique there is by a long shot." (Scientific American August 7, 2008)

Comments

See Talk:Directory:Calera Corporation

Contact

Brent Constantz: Founder

Business Bio

Calera Corporation

14600 Winchester BlvdThere was an error working with the wiki: Code[1]]]

Los Gatos, CA 95032

United States

Founded in 2007

Phone:408-370-1111

E-Mail: [mailto:{address}?subject={Directory_page}_featured_at_PESWiki.com {address}]

See also

Directory:CO2 Sequestration

Directory:Global Warming

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