alterBiota Enters Commercialization Phase with deltaC, a Liquid Biochar Admixture Transforming Concrete

SYDNEY, NS, Dec. 10, 2025 /CNW/ - alterBiota, a Canadian cleantech company developing solutions to modernize and decarbonize concrete, announced that its flagship product, deltaC (∆C™), has officially entered the commercialization phase. This milestone marks the company's transition from R&D to revenue and highlights growing demand for high-performance, low-carbon construction solutions.

∆C is a transformative biochar based liquid admixture produced with alterBiota's patented process that reduces the carbon footprint of concrete by up to 30% while improving fresh and hardened concrete performance. Admixtures are used industry wide to enhance strength, workability, and a whole host of desirable attributes in concrete. ∆C is unique because it combines strength and workability enhancement with carbon removal and storage, the latter helping to augment decarbonization without the need to reduce cement.

In alterBiota's summer of 2025 ∆C commercialization drive, over 100 cubic meters of low carbon concrete were delivered in a wide range of commercial concrete projects, ranging from extruded curbs, sidewalks, and structural pads, resulting in significant embodied carbon reductions. Decarbonization levels for these commercial projects ranged from 10 to 22%, these include projects where no cement was removed, to those where moderate cement reductions took place, demonstrating the flexibility of the product and broad application potential.

The performance of ∆C was demonstrated in a standout project supporting CarbonRun, a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia–based company deploying river alkalinity enhancement technologies to restore aquatic ecosystems and naturally sequester carbon and was delivered by Casey Concrete of Truro, Nova Scotia. The concrete was used for the foundation of an outdoor silo in a remote location which is used to store limestone for rebalancing river acidity levels, supporting regional ecological restoration and carbon dioxide sequestration. The foundation specified a compressive strength of 35 MPa after 28 days of curing and this target was exceeded with the use of ∆C after 3 days. This accelerated strength development allowed the silo to be placed on the foundation early while also reducing the embodied carbon of this concrete element by 22% through a combination of cement replacement and carbon dioxide removal and storage (as biochar).

∆C represents cost savings compared to traditional high-performance materials like silica fume, and as a liquid, has easier logistics for concrete producers. alterBiota is excited to showcase this collaboration between two Atlantic Canadian cleantech companies and a progressive concrete producer, working together to advance innovation and sustainability in their respective fields.

CarbonRun underscored the value of ∆C in their own words:

"The performance improvements we saw with ∆C were impressive. Achieving our required strength in a fraction of the expected time helped accelerate field deployment while reducing the embodied carbon of the project. As an organization focused on restoring ecosystems and removing carbon, working with innovative partners like alterBiota is essential to scaling climate-positive infrastructure."

-       Eddie Halfyard, Co-Founder & CTO, CarbonRun

Casey Concrete described the ease of use and huge potential for a product like ∆C:

"Our team was genuinely impressed with how seamlessly deltaC (∆C™) integrated into our mix design. The admixture produced concrete with excellent workability, and consistent finishing characteristics, with the added environmental benefit. ∆C allowed us to cut embodied carbon without complicating production as it worked with our existing admixture system. As a producer, we are looking for innovations that enhance both performance and sustainability, and ∆C is one of the first products we've tested that delivers on both. We see potential for its use across a wide range of our concrete applications, including precast concrete."

-       Bruce Casey, President, Casey Concrete

With infrastructure and construction industries under pressure to decarbonize, alterBiota's entry into the market with ∆C demonstrates how performance and sustainability can be delivered together in one simple product. By reducing embodied carbon while delivering improved performance, ∆C is poised to accelerate adoption of low carbon concrete across a wide range of projects. ∆C also represents a circular economy success story by using byproducts from forestry operations that for decades were consumed by the now diminished pulp mills of North America while also offering a scalable alternative to products like fly-ash and steel slag which faces supply shortages due to the reduced use of coal-fired electricity generation and steel blast furnaces. Slotting nicely into these macroeconomic realities gives alterBiota a unique advantage in the market.

"After nearly 5 years of intense R&D, it is deeply rewarding to introduce our ∆C product to the concrete market." said Mark Masotti, CEO and Co-Founder of alterBiota. "With customers like CarbonRun, producer partners like Casey Concrete, and a world class innovation ecosystem in Nova Scotia, we have been able to successfully demonstrate a practical, scalable, renewable, and cost-effective way to achieve net new decarbonization of concrete."

About alterBiota

alterBiota is a Canadian cleantech company pioneering innovations for low-carbon, precision concrete. Its mission is to reduce the environmental footprint of the built environment through practical, scalable Industry 4.0 solutions. The company's flagship product, DeltaC (∆C™), is a decarbonizing admixture that combines performance with practical and meaningful climate impact.

SOURCE AlterBiota