500 megatons of carbon dioxide could be put away annually thanks to a new process from Nova Scotia’s Carbon Sense Solutions. The race to develop integrated carbon capture and storage solutions could have some fresh competition in the form of concrete made with sequestered carbon dioxide. CO2 is stored in pre-cast concrete which it said has the potential to put away 500 megatons annually.

“What’s different about this application is that it operates under atmospheric conditions, using as-captured flue gas,” Robert Niven, president of Carbon Sense, said.


Pre-cast concrete uses a reusable mold to form walls, panels, beams and columns that are cured in a plant and then shipped to a construction site, offering faster production over pouring and curing on-site. 

Niven said his company’s process could use the existing carbon dioxide emissions from a pre-cast concrete plant, funneling the emissions into a separate green product line.

The resulting concrete has a higher compressive strength, is less permeable and has a faster curing time than regular pre-cast concrete, according to Niven. 

Regular pre-cast concrete can take 12 to 24 hours to cure using steam, while the CO2 carbonated concrete only takes an hour, and doesn’t use any steam. The carbon storing concrete from Carbon Sense can store 60 tons of carbon dioxide for every 1,000 tons of concrete.