Blue Planet Systems

Re-imagining concrete through the conversion of carbon   

Each week, the construction industry builds on a scale that rivals the size of Paris. With an estimated 70 million people likely to travel in and out of cities every year over the next three decades, we’re faced with the dual challenge of managing infrastructural demands while mitigating our environmental footprint. Despite being hubs of economic ventures, urban spaces are often the epicentres of carbon emissions, which is largely the result of both the transport and construction sectors. The latter is responsible for a substantial fraction of global greenhouse gases, placing the way that cement and concrete are produced at the centre of this urban climate dilemma.

This is why Blue Planet Systems is reimagining the role of buildings as potential carbon sinks. Using ground-breaking mineralisation methods, its ambition is to convert dilute CO2 – regardless of its origins – into calcium carbonate. This process, inspired by how lobsters form their tough outer shells, permanently embeds carbon into an innovative material that replaces the original emissions-heavy concrete.

Blue Planet Systems' method is distinct in its ability to convert carbon dioxide from varied sources, including cement plants and oil refineries, sometimes for gas sources that contain as little as 5 percent CO2. And by strategically placing its operations in deep-water ports, Blue Planet Systems removes the need to transport its material across land, cutting its emissions even further.