MUNICH & PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The U.S. start-up Solidia Technologies® has signed a partnership agreement with The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company, to industrialize an innovative technology that could reduce the environmental footprint of pre-cast concrete while reducing production costs and improving the performance of building materials. The collaboration will include the development, demonstration and commercialization of Solidia’s CO2-based concrete curing technology.
A global leader in the international gases market and engineering, Linde will work with Solidia to demonstrate the feasibility of commercial-scale production. “Linde will bring CO2 supply and delivery expertise including engineering of application-specific equipment to contribute to this joint development. This project marks an important step in proving and enhancing our CO2 management capabilities,” said Dr. Andreas Opfermann, Head of Clean Energy and Innovation Management at Linde. The two companies will also collaborate to market the technology as a new solution for the pre-cast sector.
Cement production is responsible for three to five percent of total global carbon emissions, and global demand for concrete products is second only to the demand for water. Cement manufacturers have committed to reducing their carbon footprint but are often constrained by their assets and chemistry. By helping develop a means of transforming CO2 into a valuable commodity for one of the world’s largest industries, the collaboration will help speed the market and social impact, recategorizing CO2 as a catalyst for profitability and growth.
“As collaborators with a global reach and decades of technological and market knowledge, industry leaders such as Linde play a significant role driving innovation to market,” said Solidia President and CEO Tom Schuler. “Linde’s expertise in gas delivery and equipment engineering enables rapid commercialization by freeing us to focus on the development of our core technology. Likewise, our technology gives Linde access to a large, new market that would not exist without Solidia.”
Solidia’s CO2-based concrete curing technology utilizes Solidia Cement™ manufactured using the novel chemistry developed by Solidia. The patented technology allows lower CO2 emissions in the cement production process and involves the capture of CO2 in precast concrete manufacturing. Overall, CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 70 percent.
The technology offers manufacturers significant cost savings compared to water-based curing of conventional cement based on faster curing times, lower energy and raw material consumption, reduced waste generation, and reduced labor requirements.
The Cement Sustainability Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development set 2050 CO2 reduction targets for the global cement industry. If the industry were to adopt Solidia’s technologies today, it would achieve those 2050 goals by 2015.
The Linde collaboration adds to the already robust roster of collaborative testing agreements and third-party research that reinforces Solidia’s technology and product development. These include ongoing research in concrete applications with industry leader Lafarge in pre-cast applications. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration supports Solidia with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to examine transportation infrastructure applications at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has co-funded a four-year research and development project as part of its CO2 Storage Program. Long-term research continues at Rutgers, the State University of N.J., where the original generation of the technology was developed, and collaborative research efforts are underway in laboratories at Purdue University, Ohio University, and the University of South Florida.
About Solidia Technologies®
Solidia Technologies® is a cement and concrete technology company with patented processes that make it easy and profitable to use CO2 to create superior and sustainable building, construction and industrial products. Suitable for large- and small-scale applications, Solidia’s technology starts with a sustainable cement, cures concrete with carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of water, reduces carbon emissions up to 70%, and recycles 60 to 100% of the water used in production. Using the same raw materials and existing equipment as traditional concretes, the resulting CO2-cured concrete products are higher performing, cost less to produce, and cure in less than 24 hours. Solidia was honored with the 2013 R&D Top 100 Award, named a finalist in both the 2014 CCEMC Grand Challenge First Round and the 2013 Katerva Award, shortlisted to both the 2013 Cleantech 100 and MIT’s Climate CoLab, and named a 2014 Best Place to Work in NJ. Based in Piscataway, N.J. (USA), Solidia’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bright Capital, BASF, and BP. Follow Solidia Technologies at www.solidiatech.com, on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter: @SolidiaCO2.
About The Linde Group
In the 2013 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 16.655 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 63,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
Under the "Clean Technology by Linde" label, the company offers a wide range of products and technologies that help to render renewable energy sources financially viable, and significantly slow down the depletion of fossil resources or reduce the level of CO2 emitted. This ranges from specialty gases for solar module manufacturing, industrial-scale CO2 separation and application technologies to alternative fuels and energy carriers such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.
For more information go to http://www.linde.com/cleantechnology.
