Calgary-based company’s carbon negative cement selected from a field of over 1,100 to continue competing for $100M in awards
April 19, 2022 – Calgary, AB – A Calgary-based company is one step closer to $100 million in awards funded by Elon Musk for developing a widely accessible and scalable carbon capture and sequestration technology.
ZS2 Technologies is now one of the top 60 entrants out of more than 1,100 entrants for the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition from the Musk Foundation. This milestone recognizes their submission’s scientific validity and potential for achieving a fully operational carbon removal solution within the next three years. ZS2’s technology pulls CO2 directly from the atmosphere and then sequesters it in carbon-negative magnesium-based cement, which is then used in sustainable building materials.
“We believe the solution to the carbon problem is to find ways to make CO2 useful. Our team has been working on the material science behind sequestering CO2 in sustainable building materials for almost two years, and this competition was the perfect opportunity to take that research a step forward and incorporate direct air capture that is an accessible and scalable technology easily deployed around the world,” says Doug Brown, CTO at ZS2 Technologies. “Cement is the most consumed product in the world next to water, and its production is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Developing a cement that is actually carbon negative has massive implications for worldwide carbon reduction.”
ZS2 has collaborated with the Avatar Carbon Removal Accelerator over the past six months to refine the technology and perfect the business case for this carbon removal solution. The next phase of the competition will have ZS2 build a commercial manufacturing plant where they will fully implement the carbon capture technology in a commercial setting and manufacture made-in Canada magnesium cement boards for the construction industry. ZS2’s TechBoard will also be used in the manufacturing of TechPanels, a pre-manufactured building solution that provides highly efficient building envelopes and rapid build times.
“In the beginning our goal as a company was to help reduce the building industry’s carbon footprint by producing lower carbon cement and manufacturing insulated building panels that create highly efficient building envelopes that can cut the operational carbon footprint of a building in half,” Scott Jenkins, CEO at ZS2 Technologies, says. “But our R&D team has really taken their carbon reduction aspirations to new levels with this competition, and we’re absolutely amazed at what they’ve been able to accomplish over the last few months to make cement carbon negative. Following the extensive third party validation our selection as one of the top 60 solutions from companies around the world is really a testament to their hard work and ingenuity.”
About ZS2 Technologies
ZS2 Technologies Ltd. develops and manufactures proprietary advanced building technologies including proprietary fire-rated, non-toxic, low-carbon cementitious building materials and prefabricated structural panels. ZS2 markets and delivers high performance building solutions for the residential, commercial, industrial, healthcare and assisted living industry verticals in Canada and the United States both directly and through a growing network of TechPartners (distribution partners).
Media Contact
Matt Stuart
ZS2 Technologies
403.975.4040
[email protected]