In a move to make buildings more carbon neutral, the federal Department of Energy has announced that it is awarding grants to the tune of $39 million for some 18 projects advancing that effort. The grants are primarily going to research work at the university level and includes just under $3.2 million in funding for the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus for a program designed to reduce the carbon footprint of cement. As planned, UC will manufacture and commercialize a cement using biogenic limestone. A second Colorado project is seeing $1.6 million in funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the city of Golden. That laboratory is developing high performance carbon negative concrete using low value by-products from biofuel production. The Energy Department funding is coming through the agency’s Harnessing Emissions Into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere program. In a statement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm remarked that there is a “huge, untapped potential in reimagining building materials and construction techniques.” Granholm added that the funded awards present “a unique opportunity for researchers to advance clean energy materials to tackle one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors that is responsible for roughly 10% of total emissions in the United States.” By Garry Boulard
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