Carbon8 Systems (C8S), is a global leader in carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), specializing in mineralisation. But how can C8S’ Accelerated Carbonation Technology help us reach our Net Zero Carbon targets?

Ffion Rolph, Carbon 8 System’s Business Development Director chats to Business News Wales about how the company is helping heavy industry address their sustainability challenges and is working with some of the world’s largest and innovative industrial companies.

You can listen to the full interview here:

Ffion describes how, in simple terms:

“Carbon8 Systems turns industrial byproducts and carbon dioxide which would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere, into something valuable and sustainable, and therefore enable a circular process where nothing is wasted.”

She goes on to talk about how Carbon8 Systems has “developed and patented a process called Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT), which builds on over 20 years of Research and Development.”

This particular technology combines residues/ or byproducts from industrial processes -usually ashes, or dusts from industries like cement, steel, power generation – with carbon dioxide, to manufacture carbon negative products, typically aggregate that can be used in the construction industry.

But what exactly is Accelerated Carbonation Technology? Ffion describes:

“Carbonisation is a natural process which takes place between materials which are reactive with carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide itself. It is one of nature’s ways of sequestering or trapping carbon dioxide. The end result is that you create a new material, which has permanently captured the carbon dioxide used in the reaction.”

She adds that Carbon8 Systems’ technology controls, manages and accelerates this natural process. She says how in 15-20 minutes, Carbon8 Systems can use carbonation to create building materials which otherwise take thousands of years to form.

But how does the technology work?

“One of the things which makes our technology exciting is the fact that we can deploy it on-site at a cement plant, an energy from waste plant or steel works, for example. The way we deploy our process, as a containerized plug-and-play solutions, which can be integrated into an industrial plant in a matter of days.”

She adds that:

“We will plug one of our modular, scalable containers into the site’s flue gas, directly capturing carbon dioxide without the need for any special treatment or separation, by carbonating it with the residue that is available on-site. The end result is a carbon negative product – so we have turned a problem into something valuable by reducing that site’s carbon emissions and using a residue that would otherwise go to landfill.”

Carbon8 Systems has said they are one of the solutions, which can help enable the shift to a net zero carbon economy. The company is also a member of the South Wales Industrial Cluster, a consortium of companies and public sector organizations, working together to decarbonise industry in South Wales.