Concrete, the most abundant human-made material in the world, is literally the foundation of modern life. The annual production of concrete blocks, a basic unit of international construction, is projected to equal one trillion by 2027.

Unfortunately, concrete manufacturing is also responsible for between 4% - 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, coming in after fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

Professor of mechanical engineering and Director of the Global CO2 Initiative, Volker Sick discusses the opportunities of utilizing cement made from captured carbon to address concrete’s heavy carbon footprint in the context of the carbon XPRIZE. XPRIZE winners had to demonstrate that their process could work on an industrial scale. "Is that ready to be implemented everywhere now? We have ways to go. There is a long path, but it's a great start."

Read the full article from VOA here.