John Mead would love for people to say, “Black is the New Green.” Because he wants concrete to become carbon neutral by incorporating biochar, a charcoal-like soil additive. And he is sharing how to do it by making the award-winning process open source.

It was when vintner Remy Drabkin, mayor of McMinnville, Oregon, was planning a new 5000-square-foot production facility that Mead began exploring how to produce carbon-neutral concrete. When the slab was laid at Remy Wines in June 2022, it was the first carbon-negative concrete slab in North America.