The Government of Canada has awarded $700,000 to CarbiCrete through Natural Resources Canada’s Energy Innovation Program (EIP). The funding is earmarked for the development of new processes that enable industrial emitters to use low-concentration CO₂ or direct flue-gas emissions to produce decarbonised concrete.
CarbiCrete’s existing technology eliminates 100% of cement from masonry and hardscape products by substituting it with a steel-making by-product. The process currently involves using carbon dioxide to cure the concrete, which permanently sequesters the gas within the finished material. The new research initiative aims to adapt this curing process to work effectively with the lower CO₂ levels typically found in industrial exhaust, rather than requiring purified carbon dioxide.
The grant is part of a broader $28.9 million investment into 12 clean energy initiatives announced by Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, at York University’s Markham Campus.
“We are investing to provide reliable, affordable and clean power across the country that will propel our economic growth, protect affordability for Canadian families and make Canada a low-risk, low-cost, low-carbon energy superpower,” says Hodgson.
The ability to bypass carbon purification could significantly lower the barrier for heavy industries to recycle their own emissions.
“We are tremendously grateful for this funding,” says Gary Belisle, CarbiCrete’s CEO. “The ability to use flue gas directly as our CO₂ feedstock will be a transformative milestone for CarbiCrete. It will allow virtually any industrial emitter to turn its own by‑product emissions into an input for making cement-free concrete—unlocking a more scalable, cost‑effective pathway to decarbonizing the built environment, and accelerating the pace at which heavy industries can participate in the circular economy.”
CarbiCrete currently operates at Patio Drummond in Quebec and Canal Block in Ontario. The company also recently expanded its international footprint with a new production line at a POINT.P plant in France.
