Source: Newsweek, October 25 edition; CP staff
Calera Corp., the northern California technology developer eyeing carbon dioxide-capturing aggregate or supplementary cementitious materials, is recognized in the Newsweek 2010 Green Rankings. The current edition lists Calera’s processing of calcium carbonate aggregate or powder from smokestack-sourced carbon dioxide as the sixth of 10 Big Green Ideas. Other noted concepts include energy harnessed from ocean wave or tidal activity, nuclear reactors running depleted uranium fuel, and mass-market light-emitting diode bulbs.
The magazine cites a caveat to pilot calcium carbonate production under way in California and potential commercial-scale processes by 2013-14: Absent federal legislation compelling reduced CO2 output, power plants are unlikely to enlist Calera. The limitation of technology hinging on carbon regulation is among key findings in “Paving the Way to Cost, Energy, and Carbon Savings in the Concrete Industry,” a report Boston-based Lux Research released earlier this month.