Saudi tourism developer Red Sea Global (RSG) has agreed to lay carbon-negative concrete pavers at its large landscape nursery in Saudi Arabia.
The pavers are made by Partanna, which claims to have developed the world’s first carbon negative concrete that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere as it cures.
RSG has ordered an initial 11,000 pavers for its 1-million-sq-m nursery that will grow some 30 million plants by 2030 for The Red Sea and Amaala resort complexes.
Partanna says its cement cures at ambient temperature, avoiding the intensive heat required for traditional cement. Its binding agents, which include recycled steel slag and leftover brine from desalination plants, absorb CO2 from the air as the cement cures.
RSG chief executive John Pagano said his group has committed to increasing the net conservation benefit at its destinations by 30% and to being carbon neutral when the resorts are operating.
Partanna co-founder Rick Fox, an actor and former LA Lakers basketball star, said: “The world desperately needs removal solutions and our technology can perform like no other, permanently locking in the carbon it absorbs.”
Set to welcome its first guests this year, The Red Sea destination was the first development in the Middle East to secure LEED platinum certification, the US Green Building Council’s highest level of certification.
It will become the world’s largest destination to run solely on renewable energy. Its five solar farms for phase one are almost complete, with more than 750,000 panels installed.
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