Environment

Could new building techniques and materials pave the way for reducing carbon emissions?

Nevada Public Radio | By Yvette Fernandez

Published March 15, 2024 at 3:58 PM MDT

<p>UNLV's Kerkorian School of Medicine, under construction in the Las Vegas Medical District, is expected to boost the Southern Nevada healthcare industry and make the area more attractive for new investment.</p> — UNLV's Kerkorian School of Medicine, under construction in the Las Vegas Medical District, is expected to boost the Southern Nevada healthcare industry and make the area more attractive for new investment.

The Western Governors’ Association has been holding a series of discussions aimed at developing new methods and policies to “Decarbonize the West.” These include developing ways to reduce, use and capture carbon.

The Decarbonizing the West workshops are focused on developing policies and strategies for Western states. One of the most significant efforts is looking at how government buildings have been built.

Carbon Cure Technologies, a Canada-based company, has developed a method of reducing carbon output from buildings. Vice President, Chris Davis explained the company's “carbon cure” process.

“Think of cake batter, that’s the concrete," he said. "And the flour that goes into the cake batter is the cement. So cement is really the key component in the concrete process that creates all the greenhouse gas emissions. It’s where climate impact for concrete lives."

Davis said this process of injecting CO2 in the early stages expands the concrete mix, allowing for lower carbon emissions while allowing carbon to be captured and stored indefinitely.

David Hildebrandt with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said efforts to move toward greener options must include refining policies and creating value for industries that opt to be early adaptors and use less carbon.

“In the near term, we’re looking at ways to be able to reduce the energy demand and the cost of making CO2 neutral fuels and chemicals," Hildebrandt said. "In the intermediate term, we’re looking at how we can actually put CO2 into building materials and at least be able to sequester it for a hundred years.”

The Western Governors’ Association is expected to release their recommendations by June.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.