This document analyzes carbon-negative materials and their potential role in addressing climate change. It defines carbon-negative materials as those that result in net CO2 sequestration from the atmosphere over their lifecycle. The main categories studied are carbon-negative cement, plastics, and nanofibers/nanotubes. While these materials currently rely on fossil fuel-derived CO2, they could potentially source CO2 from biogenic or atmospheric sources in the future. More research is still needed to make these materials cost-effective and mass-producible at scale. However, with a market size of over $1.36 trillion collectively, carbon-negative materials may play an important role in decarbonizing industries if

1. Carbon-Negative Materials and Their Role in
Climate Change
Andrew Kyong
Center for Carbon Removal
University of California, Berkeley
andrewkyong@berkeley.edu
Abstract
With the impending reality of climate change, CO2 emission reduction has
become a major global concern, especially for developing countries and
industrialized countries dependent on fossil fuels. However, CO2 emission
reduction is not the only way to combat climate change. Even if the world was
to completely reduce all of its CO2 emissions by solely using renewable energy
for its energy needs, climate change would still be a relevant issue. There would
be CO2 left in the atmosphere that would need to be dealt in order to prevent
and undo whatever climate change effects that had been made. This study helps
in developing this relevant climate change strategy of CO2 removal and
sequestration. The focus of this research was on the science, market, and policy
support of materials that sequestered CO2 which is referred to as the term
“carbon-negative materials.” This study was done through analyzing different
researcher groups and companies’ processes in making CO2 –based-materials as
well as the financial support of CO2-based-materials research through grants
from governmental organizations and non-profits. This research was done for
the Center of Carbon Removal located in Oakland, California. This work will help
people understand that CO2 removal can be an innovative, profitable process,
and ultimately that CO2 removal plays an important role in fighting climate
change.
Introduction
In order to study the market and development of carbon-negative materials,
the term “carbon-negative materials” was defined as a group of materials that
result in the net sequestration of CO2 from atmospheric or biogenic sources
over their lifecycle. Fuels and industrial chemicals made from CO2 are not
considered to be carbon-negative because they don’t ultimately sequester CO2,
but just recycle CO2 for a short while and release it back into the atmosphere
after being used. The 3 main categories of carbon-negative materials that were
taken into account were cement, plastics, and nanofibers/nanotubes.
Carbon-negative cement is cement that has calcium carbonate (limestone)
derived from atmospheric or biogenic CO2 instead of being traditionally mined
from the ground. This cement can be used for general construction and
building including buildings, sidewalks, and benches.
Carbon-negative plastics are plastics that are made from atmospheric CO2 or
methane from biogenic sources rather than natural gas or oil. These carbon-
negative plastics replace traditional, fossil based plastics for purposes such as
food containers, coatings, sealants, phone cases, and packing materials.
Carbon-negative nanofibers and carbon-negative nanotubes are nanofibers
and nanotubes made from atmospheric or biogenic CO2 instead of traditional
petroleum sources.
Carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, when used in carbon-fiber-composites,
have the potential to replace more CO2-intensive metals such as steel,
titanium, and aluminum in a number of different settings including automotive
components as well as construction and electronic materials.
Results
Materials and Methods
Mineral and resource data for Figure 1 was collected from organizations
including the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Grand View Research
(GVR) and Trading Economics (TE). Data for Figure 2 and Figure 3 was collected
from grant and budget information provided by organizations like the National
Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy under the Office
of Fossil Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the
Office of Science. All figures’ datasets were compiled in an Excel spreadsheet
and totaled together.
Conclusions
Currently, there are more than a dozen companies working on CO2-based
materials and are making their way to market. Most of these material
technologies however have production pathways that are still low-emission
since they largely use CO2 from fossil fuel plants to produce their materials.
These CO2 -reducing technologies are not net-negative today, but because these
pathways have the potential to get their CO2 sourced from biogenic sources or
from the atmosphere when coupled with direct air capture technology, they do
have the potential to do so in the future.
Furthermore, there is no federal support explicitly created to support carbon-
negative materials. However, many companies have found funding through
more general, government CO2-utilization programs in the Department of
Energy and the National Science Foundation. Additionally, Senator Heidi
Heitkamp proposed a bill on July 13, 2016 that would allow CO2-utilization
technologies to be included within an existing tax credit program for CO2
sequestration as provisioned in Section 45Q.
In light of all this, CO2-based materials still have a long journey to becoming a
large-scale carbon removal solution. More work and research needs to be done
in order for them to become mass-producible, cost-effective, and actually
carbon-negative. Nevertheless, CO2-based materials should be pursued and
supported today as they have the potential to play an important role in making
global industries — including cement, plastics, steel, titanium, and aluminum —
more climate-friendly. Together, CO2-based materials have the potential to
make a significant impact on markets that collectively are valued at $1.36 trillion
(see figure 1). This is a huge market and climate opportunity, proving that
industries do not have to sacrifice profits for environmental stewardship.
With the concept of carbon-negative materials, CO2 becomes an asset, not a
liability!
References
Centre for Low Carbon Futures. “Carbon Capture and Utilisation in the green
economy.” Peter Styring et. al. July 2011.
ChemSusChem. “Carbon Dioxide Recycling: Emerging Large-Scale Technologies
with Industrial Potential.” Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli et. al. September
2011,
International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment. “Trends and
developments in green cement and concrete technology.” Mohammed S.
Imbabi et. al. May 2013.
Mohammed Imbabi, Collette Carrigan, Sean McKenna. “Trends and
development in green cement and concrete technology.” Elsevier Ltd, May
2013.
Nano Letters. “One-Pot Synthesis of Carbon Nanofibers from CO2.” Stuart Licht
et. al. August 2015
Global CCS Institute. “Accelerating the Uptake of CCS: Industrial Use of
Captured Carbon Dioxide.” March 2011
World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “The New Plastics
Economy.” World Economic Forum, January 2016.
Figure 3. Policy Support for CO2–Based Materials Research by Type
Industry Market Size ($) Market Size (Tonnes)
Cement $432.6 billion (2015) 4,100 MMT (2015)
Plastics $306.8 billion (2013) 205.7 MMT (2014)
Metals: Steel $507.1 billion (2015) 1,640 MMT (2015)
Metals: Aluminum $113.1 billion (2015) 58.3 MMT (2015)
Metals: Titanium $2.1 billion (2015) 0.21 MMT (2015)
Metals: Total $622.3 billion (2015) 1,698.5 MMT (2015)
Figure 1. Carbon-Negative Materials Potential Market
Research Area (Program
Name)
Federal Support ($) CO2–Based Materials Grant
Status
Program Status
Innovative Concepts for
Beneficial Reuse of CO2
Research Area (ICCS
Subprogram/CCRP)
$41.9 million Completed Completed
Carbon Use and Reuse
Research Area (Carbon
Storage Subprogram/ CCRP)
$1.8 million Completed Ongoing
Innovative Processes and
Materials Technologies
Research Area
$5 million Completed Completed
CO2 Utilization Research
Area (DOE and NSF SBIR
Programs)
$1.25 million Ongoing Ongoing
Catalysis Science Research
Area (Basic Energy Sciences
Programs)
$0.5 million Completed Ongoing
NSF Division Program $2.52 million Ongoing Ongoing
Carbon-Dioxide-Based
Material Type
Federal Support ($)
Cement $23.2 million
Plastic $29.22 million
Nanofiber/Nanotubes $150,000
Total $52.57 million
Figure 2. Policy Support for CO2–Based Materials Research by Program