The DOI matches its Crossref record; 79 of the 80 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet.
Building materials could store more than 16 billion tonnes of CO 2 annually
Open accessAbstract
Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions likely entails not only lowering emissions but also deploying carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal technologies. We explored the annual potential to store CO 2 in building materials. We found that fully replacing conventional building materials with CO 2 -storing alternatives in new infrastructure could store as much as 16.6 ± 2.8 billion tonnes of CO 2 each year—roughly 50% of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions in 2021. The total storage potential is far more sensitive to the scale of materials used than the quantity of carbon stored per unit mass of materials. Moreover, the carbon storage reservoir of building materials will grow in proportion to demand for such materials, which could reduce demand for more costly or environmentally risky geological, terrestrial, or ocean storage.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Nonetheless, the large amount of cement used in products to date, arguably renders recarbonation a sizeable global CO2 sink which is not yet fully accounted for in climate models and mitigation plans [12 -16].”
From Isotope chemistry to trace carbon mineralization in construction materials (2026) · cites this paper as [15]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Climate change 2007 - mitigation of climate change
Metz, B., Davidson, O. R., Bösch, P., Dave, R., & Meyer, L. (2007) · Cited by 3,484
Wood handbook: wood as an engineering material
Ross, R. (2010) · doi:10.2737/fpl-gtr-190 · Cited by 2,596
Net-zero emissions energy systems
Davis, S. J., Lewis, N. S., Shaner, M., Aggarwal, S., Arent, D., Azevedo, I. L., Benson, S. M., Bradley, T., Brouwer, J., Chiang, Y.-M., et al. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aas9793 · Cited by 2,391
Self-citationEnvironmental impacts and decarbonization strategies in the cement and concrete industries
Habert, G., Miller, S. A., John, V. M., Provis, J. L., Favier, A. R., Horvath, A., & Scrivener, K. L. (2020) · Nature Reviews Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43017-020-0093-3 · Cited by 1,791
Self-citationStrategies to reduce the global carbon footprint of plastics
Zheng, J., & Suh, S. (2019) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0459-z · Cited by 1,356
Buildings as a global carbon sink
Churkina, G., Organschi, A., Reyer, C. P. O., Ruff, A., Vinke, K., Liu, Z., Reck, B. K., Graedel, T. E., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2020) · Nature Sustainability · doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0462-4 · Cited by 1,045
Rissman, J., Bataille, C., Masanet, E., Aden, N., Morrow, W. R., Zhou, N., Elliott, N., Dell, R., Heeren, N., Huckestein, B., et al. (2020) · Applied Energy · doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114848 · Cited by 1,040
Self-citationProduction of bricks from waste materials – A review
Zhang, L. (2013) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.05.043 · Cited by 778
Substantial global carbon uptake by cement carbonation
Xi, F., Davis, S. J., Ciais, P., Crawford-Brown, D., Guan, D., Pade, C., Shi, T., Syddall, M., Lv, J., Ji, L., et al. (2016) · Nature Geoscience · doi:10.1038/ngeo2840 · Cited by 689
Self-citationMiller, S. A., Horvath, A., & Monteiro, P. J. M. (2016) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/7/074029 · Cited by 634
Self-citationComparison of biochar properties from biomass residues produced by slow pyrolysis at 500°C
Lee, Y., Park, J., Ryu, C., Gang, K. S., Yang, W., Park, Y.-K., Jung, J., & Hyun, S. (2013) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2013.08.135 · Cited by 624
Plastic futures and their CO2 emissions
Stegmann, P., Daioglou, V., Londo, M., van Vuuren, D. P., & Junginger, M. (2022) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05422-5 · Cited by 603
Residual fossil CO2 emissions in 1.5–2 °C pathways
Luderer, G., Vrontisi, Z., Bertram, C., Edelenbosch, O. Y., Pietzcker, R. C., Rogelj, J., De Boer, H. S., Drouet, L., Emmerling, J., Fricko, O., et al. (2018) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-018-0198-6 · Cited by 575
A looming tragedy of the sand commons
Torres, A., Brandt, J., Lear, K., & Liu, J. (2017) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aao0503 · Cited by 550
Monitoring global carbon emissions in 2022
Liu, Z., Deng, Z., Davis, S. J., & Ciais, P. (2023) · Nature Reviews Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43017-023-00406-z · Cited by 516
Self-citationFarming with crops and rocks to address global climate, food and soil security
Beerling, D. J., Leake, J. R., Long, S. P., Scholes, J. D., Ton, J., Nelson, P. N., Bird, M., Kantzas, E., Taylor, L. L., Sarkar, B., et al. (2018) · Nature Plants · doi:10.1038/s41477-018-0108-y · Cited by 480
Krausmann, F., Lauk, C., Haas, W., & Wiedenhofer, D. (2018) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.07.003 · Cited by 468
Shah, I. H., Miller, S. A., Jiang, D., & Myers, R. J. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-33289-7 · Cited by 466
Self-citationScarlat, N., Martinov, M., & Dallemand, J.-F. (2010) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2010.04.016 · Cited by 440
Projecting future carbon emissions from cement production in developing countries
Cheng, D., Reiner, D. M., Yang, F., Cui, C., Meng, J., Shan, Y., Liu, Y., Tao, S., & Guan, D. (2023) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-43660-x · Cited by 437
The negative emission potential of alkaline materials
Renforth, P. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09475-5 · Cited by 403
Possibility of utilizing agriculture biomass as a renewable and sustainable future energy source
Saleem, M. (2022) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08905 · Cited by 399
Biochar as construction materials for achieving carbon neutrality
Zhang, Y., He, M., Wang, L., Yan, J., Ma, B., Zhu, X., Ok, Y. S., Mechtcherine, V., & Tsang, D. C. W. (2022) · Biochar · doi:10.1007/s42773-022-00182-x · Cited by 361
Miller, S. A., Habert, G., Myers, R. J., & Harvey, J. (2021) · One Earth · doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2021.09.011 · Cited by 343
Self-citationLu, B., Shi, C., Cao, Z., Guo, M., & Zheng, J. (2019) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.05.350 · Cited by 338
Zheng, J.-L. (2007) · Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis · doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2006.12.030 · Cited by 321
Gupta, S., & Kua, H. W. (2017) · Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering · doi:10.1061/(asce)mt.1943-5533.0001924 · Cited by 305
Climate and health damages from global concrete production
Miller, S. A., & Moore, F. C. (2020) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-020-0733-0 · Cited by 294
Self-citationForests: Carbon sequestration, biomass energy, or both?
Favero, A., Daigneault, A., & Sohngen, B. (2020) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay6792 · Cited by 294
Land use change and carbon emissions of a transformation to timber cities
Mishra, A., Humpenöder, F., Churkina, G., Reyer, C. P. O., Beier, F., Bodirsky, B. L., Schellnhuber, H. J., Lotze-Campen, H., & Popp, A. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32244-w · Cited by 279
The Unintended Side Effects of Bioplastics: Carbon, Land, and Water Footprints
Brizga, J., Hubacek, K., & Feng, K. (2020) · One Earth · doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2020.06.016 · Cited by 271
Carbon mineralization pathways for carbon capture, storage and utilization
Gadikota, G. (2021) · Communications Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s42004-021-00461-x · Cited by 238
Agricultural production statistics 2000–2021
(2022) · FAO eBooks · doi:10.4060/cc3751en · Cited by 230
Using CaO- and MgO-rich industrial waste streams for carbon sequestration
Stolaroff, J. K., Lowry, G. V., & Keith, D. W. (2005) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2004.05.009 · Cited by 224
Environmental Impacts of Alternative Cement Binders
Miller, S. A., & Myers, R. J. (2019) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b05550 · Cited by 202
Self-citationEmerging CO2 utilization technologies for construction materials: A review
Li, N., Mo, L., & Unluer, C. (2022) · Journal of CO2 Utilization · doi:10.1016/j.jcou.2022.102237 · Cited by 193
Lippiatt, N., Ling, T.-C., & Pan, S.-Y. (2020) · Journal of Building Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jobe.2019.101062 · Cited by 189
Near-term pathways for decarbonizing global concrete production
Olsson, J. A., Miller, S. A., & Alexander, M. G. (2023) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40302-0 · Cited by 183
Self-citationCarpenter, D. L., Bain, R. L., Davis, R. E., Dutta, A., Feik, C. J., Gaston, K. R., Jablonski, W. S., Phillips, S. D., & Nimlos, M. R. (2010) · Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · doi:10.1021/ie900595m · Cited by 174
Wijitkosum, S., & Jiwnok, P. (2019) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app9193980 · Cited by 167
Characterization of bio-oil obtained from fruit pulp pyrolysis
Özbay, N., Varol, E. A., Uzun, B. B., & Pütün, A. E. (2008) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2008.04.006 · Cited by 155
Biochar-Added Cementitious Materials—A Review on Mechanical, Thermal, and Environmental Properties
Mensah, R. A., Shanmugam, V., Narayanan, S., Razavi, N., Ulfberg, A., Blanksvärd, T., Sayahi, F., Simonsson, P., Reinke, B., Försth, M., et al. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su13169336 · Cited by 153
Zhang, X., Zhang, K., Wu, C., Liu, K., & Jiang, K. (2020) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120528 · Cited by 148
Sarfaraz, Q., da Silva, L. S., Drescher, G. L., Zafar, M., Severo, F. F., Kokkonen, A. A., Molin, G. D., Shafi, M. I., Shafique, Q., & Solaiman, Z. M. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-57987-8 · Cited by 140
Cities as carbon sinks—classification of wooden buildings
Amiri, A., Ottelin, J., Sorvari, J., & Junnila, S. (2020) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aba134 · Cited by 136
Chemical–mineralogical characterisation of coarse recycled concrete aggregate
Limbachiya, M., Marrocchino, E., & Koulouris, A. (2006) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2006.01.005 · Cited by 133
Plant-by-plant decarbonization strategies for the global steel industry
Xu, R., Tong, D., Davis, S. J., Qin, X., Cheng, J., Shi, Q., Liu, Y., Chen, C., Yan, L., Yan, X., et al. (2023) · Nature Climate Change · doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01808-z · Cited by 125
Self-citationMineral carbonation and industrial uses of carbon dioxide
Mazzotti, M., Carlos, A. J., Rodney, A., Klaus, S. L., Meunier, F. E., Edward, R., Carlos, S. J., Yogo, K., Zevenhoven, R., Eliasson, B., et al. (2005) · Pages · Cited by 113
The climate benefits from cement carbonation are being overestimated
Van Roijen, E., Sethares, K., Kendall, A., & Miller, S. A. (2024) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48965-z · Cited by 101
Self-citationComparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of bio-modified binder and conventional asphalt binder
Samieadel, A., Schimmel, K. A., & Fini, E. H. (2017) · Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy · doi:10.1007/s10098-017-1467-1 · Cited by 94
Construction and Demolition Waste Management – A Review
Ponnada, M. R., & Kameswari, P. (2015) · International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology · doi:10.14257/ijast.2015.84.03 · Cited by 90
A climate-optimal supply chain for CO2 capture, utilization, and storage by mineralization
Ostovari, H., Müller, L. J., Mayer, F., & Bardow, A. (2022) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131750 · Cited by 79
Carbon-negative cement manufacturing from seawater-derived magnesium feedstocks
Badjatya, P., Akca, A. H., Alvarez, D. V. F., Chang, B., Ma, S., Pang, X., Wang, E., van Hinsberg, Q., Esposito, D. V., & Kawashima, S. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2114680119 · Cited by 79
Meeting GHG reduction targets requires accounting for all forest sector emissions
Hudiburg, T. W., Law, B. E., Moomaw, W. R., Harmon, M. E., & Stenzel, J. E. (2019) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab28bb · Cited by 78
Life Cycle Assessment of Biochar Modified Bioasphalt Derived from Biomass
Zhou, X., Moghaddam, T. B., Chen, M., Wu, S., Adhikari, S., Xu, S., & Yang, C. (2020) · ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05355 · Cited by 74
Material efficiency in clean energy transitions
International Energy Agency (2019) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/aeaaccd8-en · Cited by 70
Kane, S., Roijen, E. C. V., Ryan, C. A., & Miller, S. A. (2022) · Composites Part C Open Access · doi:10.1016/j.jcomc.2022.100253 · Cited by 66
Self-citationBuilding Material and the Climate: Constructing a New Future
United Nations Environment Programme (2023) · United Nations Environment Programme eBooks · doi:10.59117/20.500.11822/43293 · Cited by 64
Bishop, G. D., Styles, D., & Lens, P. N. L. (2022) · Resources Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106185 · Cited by 61
Do we have enough natural sand for low‐carbon infrastructure?
Ioannidou, D., Sonnemann, G., & Suh, S. (2020) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1111/jiec.13004 · Cited by 55
Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization Status and Research Needs
National Academies of Sciences, E., Allen, D. G., & USDOE Office of Science (SC) (2018) · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · doi:10.2172/1733359 · Cited by 52
(2022) · FAO eBooks · doi:10.4060/cc2265en · Cited by 47
Reverse engineering of biochar
Morales, V. L., Pérez‐Reche, F. J., Hapca, S. M., Hanley, K., Lehmann, J. C., & Zhang, W. (2015) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2015.02.043 · Cited by 44
Achieving negative emissions in plastics life cycles through the conversion of biomass feedstock
Souza, C. D. O., Zanon-Zotin, M., Rochedo, P., & Szklo, A. S. (2020) · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.2165 · Cited by 39
OpenConcrete: a tool for estimating the environmental impacts from concrete production
Kim, A., Cunningham, P. R., Kamau-Devers, K., & Miller, S. A. (2022) · Environmental Research Infrastructure and Sustainability · doi:10.1088/2634-4505/ac8a6d · Cited by 36
Self-citationEffects of corn stalk fiber content on properties of biomass brick
Lu, Z., Zhao, Z., Wang, M., & Jia, W. (2016) · Construction and Building Materials · doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.09.141 · Cited by 34
Study of chemical composition of agricultural residues from various agro-mass types
Praspaliauskas, M., Pedišius, N., Čepauskienė, D., & Valantinavičius, M. (2019) · Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery · doi:10.1007/s13399-019-00457-7 · Cited by 33
Roijen, E. C. V., & Miller, S. A. (2024) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141203 · Cited by 27
Self-citationPhilippidis, G., Álvarez, R. X., Lucia, L. D., Hermoso, H. G., Martinez, A. G., M’barek, R., Moiseyev, A., Panoutsou, C., Sevigné‐Itoiz, E., Sturm, V., et al. (2024) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108156 · Cited by 27
Opportunities and challenges for engineering construction materials as carbon sinks
Miller, S. A., Roijen, E. C. V., Cunningham, P. R., & Kim, A. (2021) · RILEM Technical Letters · doi:10.21809/rilemtechlett.2021.146 · Cited by 24
Self-citationReview of carbon dioxide mineralization of magnesium‐containing materials
Li, J., Luo, M., Wang, K., Li, G., & Zhang, G. (2023) · Carbon Neutralization · doi:10.1002/cnl2.80 · Cited by 21
Dzhurko, D., Haacke, B., Haberbosch, A., Köhne, L., König, N., Lode, F., Marx, A., Mühlnickel, L., Neunzig, N., Niemann, A., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Built Environment · doi:10.3389/fbuil.2024.1330105 · Cited by 20
Synthesis mechanisms on waste poplar fiber lightweight biomass bricks
Zhang, S., Dong, R., Wang, M., Jia, W., & Lu, Z. (2019) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118981 · Cited by 19
Predicting biochar properties and pyrolysis life-cycle inventories with compositional modeling
Kane, S., & Miller, S. A. (2024) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130551 · Cited by 16
Self-citationGreenhouse gas emissions of global construction material production
Kane, S., Olsson, J. A., & Miller, S. A. (2025) · Environmental Research Infrastructure and Sustainability · doi:10.1088/2634-4505/adbd6e · Cited by 15
Self-citationHýsková, P., Hýsek, Š., & Jarský, V. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12145828 · Cited by 14
Mass, enthalpy, and chemical‐derived emission flows in mineral processing
Kane, S., & Miller, S. A. (2024) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1111/jiec.13476 · Cited by 14
Self-citationRueda, D. R., McAuliffe, K., & Morales-Zamora, E. (2024) · Current Environmental Health Reports · doi:10.1007/s40572-024-00447-6 · Cited by 14
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 8
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UNEP, 2023), pp. 35–115.
- P. Cunningham A framework for considering resource availability experimental performance and environmental impacts to advance alternative mineral admixtures thesis University of California Davis Davis CA (2024).
- H. G. van Oss, Mineral Commodity Summaries: Cement (USGS, 2016).
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Forest Product Statistcs (FAO, 2020).
- European Bioplastics Conference “Bioplastic market development: Update 2022” (2022).
- PlasticsEurope, Plastics—The Facts 2019 (PlasticsEurope, 2019).
- GNR, Global Cement Database on CO2 and Energy Information, Getting the Numbers Right (World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2016).
- Portland Cement Association, Portland-Limestone Cement and Sustainability (Portland Cement Association, 2019).
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Song, Y., Diao, X., Xu, R. L., Wang, X., Han, Y., Shi, T., Fang, B., Liu, Y., & Corr, D. J. (2025) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5c03561 · Cited by 71
Wang, D., Zhang, Z., Shi, C. W., Wang, Y., Ren, Q., Ning, C., Liu, X., & Jiang, Z. (2025) · Composites Part B Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112903 · Cited by 57
Carbon footprint of the construction sector is projected to double by 2050 globally
Li, C., Pradhan, P., Chen, G. Q., Kropp, J. P., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2025) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02840-x · Cited by 51
3D printing technology in concrete construction
Zhang, Y., Zhu, X., Li, M., Zhang, C., Zhang, Y., Du, X., Banthia, N., Mechtcherine, V., Carstensen, J. V., Monteiro, P. J. M., et al. (2025) · Nature Reviews Clean Technology · doi:10.1038/s44359-025-00047-z · Cited by 49
Zhang, Q., Li, Y., Luo, F., & Yang, Z. (2025) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/d5cc02288f · Cited by 34
Metadata
- Authors
- Van Roijen, E., Miller, S. A., & Davis, S. J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2025-01-10
- Volume
- 387
- Issue
- 6730
- Pages
- 176-182
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W4406201546
- Cited by
- 112
- References
- 79
- Citations by year
- 2026: 65 · 2025: 47
- FWCI
- 30.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2025-02-20)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (2143981)
- Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET-2143981)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Filtration and Separation › Carbon Dioxide Capture Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Civil and Structural Engineering › Concrete and Cement Materials Research
- Keywords
- CO2 sequestration, building materials, carbon capture and storage, carbon sequestration, net-zero emissions, carbon dioxide removal, carbon storage potential, infrastructure requirements, geological storage
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
