Carbonaide

Carbonaide is a Finnish greentech company tackling the significant carbon footprint of the construction industry, which accounts for 8% of global CO2 emissions. The company emerged as a spin-off from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, where co-founder and CEO Tapio Vehmas initiated research in 2018. Vehmas, a Senior Scientist at VTT, led the development of turning the disadvantage of concrete carbonation—a process that normally degrades steel-reinforced concrete—into a core technological advantage. After years of research and piloting, supported by the VTT LaunchPad incubator, Carbonaide was established to commercialize the technology.

The firm has developed a technology that mineralizes carbon dioxide and permanently stores it within precast concrete products. This is achieved through an automated, atmospheric pressure carbonation process that can be integrated directly into existing concrete production lines. The system infuses gaseous CO2 into the concrete during the curing phase, which not only sequesters the carbon but also accelerates the hardening process and improves the material's mechanical properties. A key benefit of this method is the reduced need for cement, a primary source of concrete's emissions, by up to 50%. By also incorporating industrial side streams like steel slag and bio-ash as binding agents, Carbonaide can produce concrete with a negative carbon footprint.

Carbonaide operates on a service-based business model centered around its Carbonaide Service Platform. This cloud-based software manages and optimizes the CO2 curing process and verifies the amount of sequestered carbon, enabling clients to report environmental benefits and access carbon credit markets. The company's revenue streams include technology sales, service fees for CO2 sourcing and system maintenance, and the sale of carbon credits. Its clients are precast concrete manufacturers. The company's first commercial-scale factory became operational in Hollola, Finland, in August 2023, with products like partition wall elements available since March 2024. In March 2023, Carbonaide secured €1.8 million in seed funding from investors including Lakan Betoni and Vantaa Energy, which has been instrumental in scaling its operations. The company aims to establish ten operational units in the Nordics by 2026 and bind 500 megatons of CO2 annually by 2050.

Keywords: carbon capture and utilization, CCUS, carbon-negative concrete, precast concrete, greentech, construction technology, VTT spin-off, carbon mineralization, sustainable building materials, CO2 curing, cement reduction, low-carbon construction, industrial side streams, emissions trading, permanent carbon storage, climate tech, concrete manufacturing, cleantech, Tapio Vehmas, carbon sequestration, circular economy, building materials innovation