Carbon-Negative Cement Technology CarbonLock Goes Into Mass Production: 80kg CO2 Permanently Sequestered Per Cubic Meter

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South China University of Technology's School of Materials Science and Engineering and Huaxin Cement jointly announced in November 2028 that the CarbonLock carbon-negative cement technology has achieved ten-thousand-ton scale production.

CarbonLock injects industrially captured CO2 during the cement hydration process. The CO2 reacts with calcium ions in the cement to form calcium carbonate minerals, permanently fixed within the concrete structure. Each cubic meter of CarbonLock concrete sequesters 80kg of CO2 — 1.6 times the previous SeaCrete technology's 50kg per cubic meter.

"The cement industry accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions," said Professor Zhang Lianmeng of South China University of Technology. "CarbonLock doesn't just achieve zero emissions — it achieves negative emissions. Each ton of cement produced absorbs more CO2 than it emits."

Lab testing shows CarbonLock concrete has 20% higher compressive strength than ordinary concrete, as calcium carbonate minerals fill the concrete's microscopic pores. Huaxin Cement has used CarbonLock concrete in a commercial building project in Guangzhou covering 20,000 square meters.

Production cost increases approximately 15% per ton, but carbon credit sales can offset or even generate profit. Huaxin Cement plans to build its first million-ton CarbonLock production line in 2029.