Cement from Thin Air

Meet Brent Constantz. In a recent article featured in Popular Science's Innovations of the Year ("Cement from Thin Air"). I was able to read about the great things that this man is doing.

He seems to be one of those people that inherently make you feel inadequate. He has had a history of starting multiple companies, has more than 60 patents and invented a way to utilize the way coral grows to find a way to naturally mend bone. Now, he's on to something new, by utilizing that same method to create cement. The way it works seems simple (although I'm sure it's not)- basically, engineers spray mineral rich or brine water through the fluegas of smokestacks. The calcium in the water bonds to the pollution to form cement, much like the way coral combines calcium and bicarbonate (naturally occurring in seawater) to form their exoskeletons.

Brent estimates that his new company, Calera,can produce up to 1,100 tons of cement a day and in doing so, sequester 550 tons of carbon dioxide (which would otherwise be released into the air!).

I love being amazed at the capacity of human ingenuity. He has my vote for innovation of the year!