A Victorian start-up has revealed it has technology to collect carbon emissions from exhaust fumes and embed them in concrete for sustainable outcomes for the industry.
The groundbreaking development involves capturing and storing emissions from internal combustion engines and converting them into a byproduct that can replace Portland cement. Although only in business since 2022, Kapture partnered with WA’s PERMAcast as an investor and to trial its technology.
Kapture co-founder and CEO Raj Bagri spoke with SmartCompany about the technology that can be retrofitted to the exhaust of diesel generators without disrupting operations and without reducing their efficiency. The CO₂ emissions are captured before they are even emitted.
Bagri said the byproduct of the captured emissions can be used as a replacement for Portland cement and that Kapture would be selling the byproduct.
Kapture claims it can off-set between 0.7 and 1.2 tons of CO₂ from being released into the atmosphere during the cement manufacturing process, in addition to the reduction in emissions from the generator itself.
A trial of the technology is scheduled for early 2025 with an electricity utility provider along with commercialisation next year and then expanding into the shipping industry and undertaking a new round of fundraising.
Raj Bagri is a business manager from a non-technical background who developed her company following 18 months of deep research to find a scalable solution for carbon emissions and identifying a co-founder from the US she met via LinkedIn.
“I wanted to show the world that innovation and sustainability can co-exist and inspire females and show them that women can lead companies that will shape our future and make an impact for generations to come.”
Image: Raj Bagri with her co-founder from the US, Jacob Youngert.
About the author
Desi Corbett
Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.