What They Do

ecoLocked is making carbon negative concrete a possibility. By incorporating biochar into concrete, ecoLocked transforms buildings into carbon sinks, offering a scalable and affordable solution for the construction sector's decarbonization efforts. On average, ecoLocked Materials® sequester 250kg/m3 of concrete poured and can offer significant functional benefits over traditional concrete - finished materials can be lighter, stronger or more insulating, for example, as specific applications demand. Crucially, ecoLocked Materials do not require significant changes to existing manufacturing or on-site processes and aim to provide a highly scalable market for biochar as a value-adding carbon store.

Why it Matters

Biochar is the solution driving deliveries in the carbon removal market today. However, there are limited markets for its use. Producing high quality biochar requires capital intensive machinery, and revenues from carbon removal credits at ~$150 tCO₂ are often insufficient to make the economics go round. Therefore to unlock biochar’s true scale, we need to realise its value in different applications. Luckily, biochar has unique material properties that increase its value in a variety of contexts. Incorporation into building materials is a market with enormous potential, as gigatonnes of cement and concrete are produced each year and the current process is highly carbon-intensive. Biochar can directly replace some Portland cement, the most carbon intensive element of concrete, but ease of integration and low-cost are needed for large-scale adoption.