Hawaii Department of Transportation Demonstrates CarbonCure for Paving Infrastructure
Project follows recent adoption of Honolulu City Council resolution on CO₂ mineralization in concrete
HONOLULU, HI – 17 May, 2019: The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced yesterday that the department is demonstrating the use of concrete made with the CarbonCure Technology as a sustainable transportation initiative. The initial test involves a pour of 150 cubic yards of carbon-injected concrete next to an equivalent pour of standard concrete mix on an access road for the Kapolei Interchange Phase 2 on Oahu Island.
“I am pleased to see HDOT moving ahead with CarbonCure, local concrete companies, and Hawaii Gas to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted during the construction process,” said Hawaiian Governor David Ige. “As the daily baseline measurement for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere reaches the highest level in modern history, it is especially important for all of us to do all we can towards ensuring a sustainable Hawaii for future generations.”
The carbon-injected concrete used in the testing was produced by Island Ready-Mix Concrete using waste carbon dioxide captured from Hawaii Gas, and distributed by Matheson Gas. The carbon dioxide is mixed into the concrete using the CarbonCure Technology, where it is converted to a mineral and permanently embedded within the concrete.
The HDOT demonstration project comes on the heels of an adopted resolution by Honolulu City Council that “requests the city administration to consider using carbon dioxide mineralization concrete for all future city infrastructure projects utilizing concrete.”
Bettina Mehnert, President & CEO of Architects Hawaii Ltd. (AHL) states, “We applaud the State of Hawaii Department of Transportation for its leadership in demonstrating the use of a more sustainable concrete technology in road construction. As architects, engineers and contractors, it is our collective responsibility to help move the construction industry to follow suit and reduce embodied carbon in our buildings, as well as in our infrastructure.”
CarbonCure’s partnerships in Hawaii are supported by Elemental Excelerator, a Hawaii-based start-up accelerator that has supported more than 50 projects by start-ups, local businesses and government agencies. “We are proud that Hawaii is looking at sustainable building practices to mitigate the effects of climate change,” said Aki Marceau, managing director for the Elemental Excelerator.
The use of the CarbonCure Technology has the potential to reduce more than 500,000 pounds of CO₂ for every mile of concrete pavement, offsetting the carbon emissions of more than 550,000 miles of highway driving by an average passenger vehicle.
Photos and videos of the production pour and interviews with Christie Gamble of CarbonCure and Aki Marceau of Elemental Excelerator can be found at this link.
Media coverage of the demonstration project may be viewed on KHON2 – 4:00 pm and KITV – 6:30 am (live).
For more information, please contact Christie Gamble, Director of Sustainability at cgamble@carboncure.com.
About CarbonCure Technologies
CarbonCure Technologies Inc. is the global leader in carbon dioxide (CO₂) utilization technologies for the world’s most abundant man-made material: concrete. The retrofit CarbonCure Technology chemically mineralizes waste CO₂ during the concrete manufacturing process to make greener and stronger concrete. CarbonCure has partnered with more than 130 concrete producers across North America and Asia to create new production cost savings, gain competitive sales advantages, and reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
About Elemental Excelerator
elementalexcelerator.com
Elemental Excelerator helps startups change the world, one community at a time. Each year, it finds 15-20 companies that best fit its mission and fund each company up to $1 million to improve systems that impact people’s lives: energy, transportation, water, agriculture, and beyond. To date, Elemental Excelerator has awarded over $30 million to 82 companies.
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