Sustainable Pre-Stressed Concrete from Seawater

A process for electrolytic deposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from seawater was pioneered by Wolf Hilbertz in the late 1970s, whose original idea was to make sustainable building materials from seawater. The process was inspired by and is derived from cathodic protection systems used on offshore oil and gas platforms. While the basic science is well understood, most applications have been for artificial reefs. It appears that there has been no systematic attempt anywhere in the world to develop a commercial system for sustainable building materials. This is one of the only technological prospects for sustainable building materials production which is in effect infinitely scalable: the possibilities are limited only by our imaginations. The design concept is replicable and scalable in tropical waters throughout the world. It is one of the only viable approaches to making sustainable building materials at scale which also yields multiple marine biodiversity and climate change adaptation benefits. Based on current market prices for limestone and limestone based construction materials, commercial production appears to be viable at the higher price range. It is time to revive Hilbertz's original idea and make it work.