CarbonCure’s Concrete Solution Featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes

Thanks to the rise of on-demand streaming services like Netflix, the days of scrambling for the remote control to tune in to our favorite TV shows are over. 

There are some exceptions, however. For many Americans, CBS’ 60 Minutes is synonymous with Sunday night family entertainment. It is the longest-running program of any genre scheduled during American network prime time. 

Last Sunday, more than 9.4 million viewers tuned in to hear Anderson Cooper—top CNN news anchor and correspondent for CBS’ 60 Minutes—cover a number of segments including an interview with Bill Gates about his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

Bill Gates: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

During the 60 Minutes segment, Bill said that to avoid a climate disaster, society has to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions, and that will require an unprecedented level of change, innovation, and cooperation.

While Bill expressed his support for the Biden administration’s decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, he feels there needs to be a bigger budget for climate change solutions. In addition to investing in the tools we already have—like solar and wind—we also need to create and roll out breakthrough technologies that can take us the rest of the way net-zero. 

Referencing the fact that the world’s building stock is expected to double by 2060—that’s equivalent to building a new New York City every month—Bill stressed the importance of innovative, practical technologies that will help eliminate carbon emissions from the construction industry. 

One breakthrough Bill honed in on was CarbonCure’s solution. He described how the technology works to both reduce the cement content of concrete, while also storing CO₂ in the concrete itself, offering one of the most effective ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s most abundant human-made material.

This is not the first time concrete has been highlighted as a solution to embodied carbon in construction—and not the problem. Last year, Irving Materials, Inc. and CarbonCure were featured in a video on Bill’s blog, Gates Notes for the work they’re doing to deliver low-carbon concrete to the construction industry.

We applaud our ready mix producers for their role as agents of change and we are honored to be working with them, delivering technologies that are transforming the building industry!

If you are based in the U.S. you can catch the replay of the 60 Minutes episode from February 14 on CBS. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can join the low carbon concrete movement, contact us.