A special type of asphalt has been laid on a section of a road in Dornbirn, Austria as part of a project expanding the district heating network. Referred to as 'green asphalt', it is mixed with 1.7% biochar produced by EnergieWerk Ilg. This means that the carbon contained in the biochar is stored, permanently removing the CO2 it forms from the atmosphere while also improving the company's CO2 balance.
According to EnergieWerk Ilg, the first test mixture was laid on September 24. If it meets expectations, a stretch of 30 meters will be laid on October 14 and 15.
If the pilot project in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg proves successful, roads can now become carbon sinks. Asphalt can contain an average of around 5% of such additives, which means that 100,000 tons of asphalt could soon be used to remove well over 10,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere permanently.
A number of partner companies in Austria are involved in the pilot project. The asphalt is produced by Migu Asphalt, which aims to use it to launch a new product and strengthen its market position, and the technology for producing the biochar comes from the company Syncraft. EnergieWerk Ilg, which supplies the aggregate, is already climate-neutral, which means that the product can enable it to become climate-positive in the future. The city of Dornbirn is making a name for itself as a flagship region for the energy transition.
The pilot project also has international partners. Hans-Peter Schmidt from the Ithika Institute in Arbaz in the canton of Valais in Switzerland is acting as a consultant on the project, and carbonfuture GmbH in Freiburg, Germany, will trade certificates from the carbon storage system. This means that certificates for removing carbon from the atmosphere can be issued, which in turn co-finances the green asphalt.
The project was initiated by the European Biochar Industry Consortium (EBI), which aims to create and establish new applications for biochar, such as carbon sinks.
