Industrial carbon emissions can be captured and turned into useful materials on a vast scale, according to Sophia Hamblin Wang, chief operating officer of Mineral Carbonation International.
"We're trying to embed emissions into as much of our everyday life as possible," said Hamblin Wang. "We turn waste into new products. And we aim to do it in a way that makes money."
The Australian company turns CO2 into raw materials that can be put to a huge range of uses, according to Hamblin Wang.
"We're looking at carpet products, detergents, you name it. Anything that can have carbonates in it can be made from our synthetic carbonates."
Above: Sophia Hamblin Wang is chief operating officer of MCi. Top: the company captures carbon emissions from industries such as steel to turn it into useful materials Hamblin Wang joined Mineral Carbonation International (MCi) as its first employee in 2013 after the startup received funding to build a pilot plant in Newcastle, New South Wales.
It is now looking to scale up the technology to handle bigger volumes. "Our aim is to lock a billion tonnes of CO2 into usable products by 2040," said Hamblin Wang.
$5.9 trillion construction materials sector "needs to decarbonise"
MCi is initially focussing on producing construction materials, particularly new types of cement and drywall products to replace carbon-emitting Portland cement and gypsum-based materials.
"We know that cement is a heavily emi...