Berner Kantonalbank cooperates with Neustark
Berner Kantonalbank is supporting the technology of the Bern-based start-up Neustark for the permanent binding of CO2 in demolition concrete with a ten-year collaboration. This will enable the bank to remove 100 of its approximately 1150 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
Berner Kantonalbank(BEKB) is promoting CO2 storage facilities in the Bern-Solothurn region. To this end, it has agreed a cooperation with the Bernese start-up Neustark, according to a press release. The aim is to support its innovative technology for the permanent storage of CO2 in demolition concrete. The aim is to remove around 1,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere in the BEKB economic area over the next ten years.
Neustark, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich founded in 2019, is the first company in the world to put carbon removal through mineralisation in demolition concrete into commercial practice and set up a network of storage facilities, according to the press release. In the summer of 2023, the largest plant to date in the BEKB economic area was put into operation in Biberist, Solothurn. Further facilities in the region are being planned. “Through our cooperation, we are not only promoting innovative technologies to achieve climate targets, we are also contributing to the circular economy in the region and making it possible to permanently remove CO2 emissions in our own economic area,” BEKB CEO Armin Brun is quoted as saying.
In 2022, BEKB’s operational CO2 emissions amounted to 1153 tonnes. These are to be further reduced through various measures. Through this cooperation with Neustark, the bank will permanently remove 100 tonnes of CO2 from its operational emissions in its own economic area every year from 2024. According to the information provided, these are the estimated residual emissions that are unavoidable for BEKB and cannot be reduced in the future.