Posted by Katherine Griwert in Green Articles, Green Companies, Green Products & Services, featured | 0 Comments
Carbon-neutral coal: Cleaner than solar wind?
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Calera claims it has the cleanest power plants in the world – coal and gas. It may seem counterintuitive that these could be "clean" energy sources, but the company boasts that – unlike solar and wind power – their energy supplies and cement products reduce carbon emissions by more than 100 percent.
The company borrows its name from the Spanish word for lime-kiln, as the founder was studying the Calera limestone in the Coastal Ranges of California while at Stanford, and it has been dedicated to eco-friendliness since its start in 1984.
In a process that seems as mystical as alchemy, the Silicon Valley startup says it captures the emissions from coal and gas power plants and locks them into cement. Still, many major investors seem to think this is more than strange magic.
The New York Times reports that the nation’s leading green energy venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla, invested about $50 million in Calera and Peabody Energy – the world’s biggest coal company – invested another $15 million. With this kind of backing, the cement holds promise to be produced on a large scale and help significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Cement production is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions in the United States. While other nations are pressuring companies to reduce their green house emissions through coal-fired electric plants that make cement, Calera’s ability to curb carbon emissions through that very same process would be a green way to make some green.
Still, the source says that a number of climate scientists are skeptical as to whether Calera can pull this off. Ken Caldeira, a carbon cycle expert at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford, told the source, "the idea that they’re going to come up with something that’s both economic and scalable? I’m highly skeptical."
Nonetheless, Calera has a pilot project up and running. Officials are fine with letting their results speak for themselves. "I don’t think anyone’s going to believe us until we’re up and running," Calera representative Brent Constantz told the New York Times.
If you build the green cement home, they will come, Mr. Constantz. 
