An exciting new pilot project by Australian clean-energy company, Mineral Carbonation International (MCI), will capture carbon emissions and transform it into carbonates for compact building materials. The company hopes to reach commercial scale by 2020.

The technology will be officially launched and demonstrated this Friday at the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources. This will consist of the hour long process of bonding CO2 with crushed serpentinite.

MCI explains hows the technology works: "This mimics but greatly speeds up the natural weathering by rainfall which produces common types of rocks over millions of years. These carbonates and silica by-products have the potential to be used in building products such as concrete and plasterboard to create green construction materials."