Carbon Zero

In a world looking to reduce carbon emissions, there are growing calls to look back to trains. Not as a nostalgic nod to the past, but as a cornerstone of climate strategy. Rail isn’t only about efficiency, but also equity and reconnecting rural regions.

MIT spinout Boston Metal has powered up its electricity driven steel production reactor and made over a ton of metal in a crucial step toward commercializing its process. With clean electricity, the process could make steel with zero CO2 emissions.

A new material tackles the carbon problem of concrete production and usage by employing a pretty unusual workforce: cyanobacteria. The bio-cement these micro-organisms help to produce harnesses a process that's existed in nature for 3.5 billion years.

Sublime Cement says it's ready to start scaling on the "world's cleanest cement," which meets industry performance standards relying on room-temperature electrolyzers in place of fossil-fueled furnaces, using a variety of zero-carbon input materials.

Architect Ivana Steiner has created a zero-waste kitchen designed to take the effort out of living a zero-waste lifestyle. Inspired after visiting several "unpacked" shops in Vienna, she created the perfect low-fuss waste-free kitchen.

Practice Architecture has built a family residence using prefabricated panels made with hemp. The result is a sustainable three bedroom home dubbed Flat House, which boasts a flat-pack design using materials grown on the 20-acre property.