Carbon-Road Mineralized CO₂ Aggregate for Asphalt and Road Base Applications

Description Carbon-Road presents a mineralized carbonate aggregate system designed for integration into asphalt, road base, sub-base, and engineered infrastructure materials. The concept extends ex-situ carbon dioxide (CO₂) mineralization into high-volume transport infrastructure applications by converting captured CO₂ into stable carbonate-rich aggregates prior to deployment. The system enables permanent carbon disposal by chemically transforming CO₂ into thermodynamically stable mineral phases (e.g., calcium or magnesium carbonates), eliminating leakage pathways associated with gaseous storage. These mineralized aggregates may be blended with conventional materials such as granite, basalt, or limestone in varying substitution ratios for use in asphalt mixtures and pavement foundation layers. Unlike in-concrete carbonation or geological storage approaches, Carbon-Road relocates the mineralization process to a controlled industrial setting, allowing verification, stockpiling, and integration into existing aggregate supply chains. Given that aggregates comprise approximately 90–95% of asphalt mixtures and are used in billions of tonnes annually worldwide, even partial substitution presents meaningful large-scale carbon disposal potential. This document outlines the conceptual framework, chemical basis, infrastructure integration pathways, scalability considerations, energy boundary assumptions, and non-claims associated with the Carbon-Road system. The work is released as public prior art under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license to encourage independent implementation, adaptation, and improvement in pursuit of climate mitigation and net-zero infrastructure objectives.