Australia has developed a tantalizing approach to curb humankind’s carbon footprint. Since the country signed the Kyoto Protocol in 2007, it has been actively fighting to moderate air pollution and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. Australia continues to adopt mainstream tactics such as cutting down on deforestation and land clearing, and has recently revealed a new technology that promises to turn carbon emissions into green building materials.

Factories are the main producers of global air pollution, as they are often to blame for the release of harmful chemicals and gases into the atmosphere. Six years of research conducted by the University of Newcastle, Orica, and GreenMag Group has resulted in the proposal of a pilot plan for the building of a factory that would convert greenhouse gas emissions into construction materials, such as bricks. The technology used in this process is groundbreaking: It transforms carbon dioxide emissions into solid carbonate. This biodegradable mass can either be disposed into the environment or can be used to create eco-friendly building materials.

The factory will be built on the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources headquarters under the management of Mineral Carbonation International (MCi) and will use carbon dioxide from Orica’s Kooragang Island manufacturing facility in Newcastle. MCi will receive $9 million in funding over the next four years, and plans to use this capital in an attempt to introduce this modern technology into large-scale commercial projects.

The factory would help diminish air pollution by mitigating the impact of human and industrial activity on the environment and generating renewable resources. By adopting such sustainable development projects, it would be possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the threat that climate change presents to our planet.