Adaptavate
Bigger Picture
Today, there are limited routes for safe and durable carbon storage. Injecting CO₂ into the geosphere is one option, but it requires extensive infrastructure and limits the locations for carbon removal. Converting biogenic or captured carbon into long-lasting products is an alternative sequestration avenue with the potential to add value beyond carbon impact.
The Problem
Startups are incorporating carbon into a range of materials from concrete to polymers (and even vodka?!). However, there are very few suitably long-lived materials produced at the scale we need for meaningful levels of carbon removal. Of the materials that do qualify, for the carbon negative version to be adopted by the mainstream market, it cannot compromise on cost, material properties or hinder the manufacturing process. With over 4 billion tonnes produced each year, concrete is one material that is made at the tremendous scale needed to make an impact on the global carbon balance. Since the built environment is already responsible for 40% of global emissions and our global building stock is set to almost double by 2050, more solutions that reduce the footprint of new buildings will be critical.
Why Adaptavate?
Scalable carbon utilisation pathway Adaptavate has designed breathaboard, a low carbon alternative to the third most widely used building product; plasterboard. By incorporating biogenic carbon, breathaboard can absorb 2-3kg CO₂/m2. With headroom for yet more improvements in the product's carbon balance, there is a promising path to remove CO₂ at gigatonne scale by 2050.
An elegant drop-in solution Breathaboard is a drop-in replacement for gypsum plasterboard. From cradle to grave, it has dramatically reduced emissions to its competitor at no expense to the performance, costs or manufacturing process.
Innovating in a carbon-intensive market Material manufacture accounts for circa 11% of global emissions. In the UK alone, gypsum plasterboard is directly responsible for 3.5% of CO₂ emissions. Anticipating a carbon tax, the industry is hungry for products like Breathaboard that offer significant carbon savings.
Passionate founders with first-hand experience The founder Tom has deep hands-on experience in the construction industry and combined with Jeff’s technical engineering expertise, they are pioneering the much-needed re-design of extractive construction materials.
