Carbonation process specialist makes XPRIZE Carbon Removal final cut

Sources: Silicate, Dublin; CP staff

Silicate, developer of treatment technology accelerating the carbon dioxide sequestration potential of finely graded limestone or hardened concrete, is one of 20 finalists in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, funded by the Musk Foundation with a $50 million grand prize. Finalists hail from around the world; earned their slots based on performance in the key areas of operations, sustainability, and cost; and, are grouped under Air/Direct Air Capture, Land, Ocean and Rocks categories. Silicate is among six in the latter category and entered the competition after teaming with University College Dublin and Northwestern University on technology demonstrations in Ireland and Illinois. Over the next year, all finalists will be challenged to demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes; and, show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes of annual CO₂ removal in the future.

**Silicate demonstrates the potential of treated fine aggregate, processed from hardened concrete, to remove carbon dioxide when spread across farm land.**

“Being selected as a finalist in this competition is an opportunity for our team to demonstrate the potential of terrestrial enhanced weathering with carbonate-bearing materials to durably sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide. XPRIZE’s recognition and support of our work is a boon to our mission to leverage agricultural value chains to durably remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while increasing soil productivity through pH amendment,” says Silicate Founder and Director Maurice Bryson.

“We need a range of bold, innovative removal solutions to manage the vast quantities of CO₂released into our environment,” adds XPRIZE CEO Anousheh Ansari. “The teams competing for this Prize are all part of building a set of robust and effective solutions. Those advancing to the final stage of XPRIZE Carbon Removal will have an opportunity to demonstrate their potential.”