‘We can scale up our impact’

October 21

‘We can scale up our impact’

In a move that could accelerate the transition to “green concrete,” two of the world’s major cement producers are investing $75 million in Sublime Systems, a low-carbon cement startup.

According to Bloomberg, global cement companies Holcim and CRH announced the cash injection last month and promised to buy green cement from the startup. In addition, the companies will work with Sublime on new manufacturing plants moving forward.

Sublime has developed a completely electrified cement-making process that it says can cut heat-trapping carbon pollution from manufacturing by 90%. Sublime’s solution is a major upgrade since it doesn’t rely on the traditional method of heating limestone in dirty fuel-powered kilns.

According to BigRentz, the world uses cement more than any other product aside from water. And that comes with a big environmental impact. The Princeton Student Climate Initiative reported that the cement industry accounts for roughly 8% of all global carbon pollution, producing about 4.4 billion tons annually.

But thanks to green cement startups such as Sublime, the industry is on its way to becoming more sustainable. The company is building its first commercial manufacturing plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which is expected to be operational by 2026. Once it’s completed, it will have the capacity to produce 30,000 tons of eco-friendly cement annually.

Leah Ellis, Sublime’s co-founder and CEO, told Bloomberg that the startup hopes to offer its green cement process to bigger cement companies such as Holcim since it already has established manufacturing plants and supply chains.

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Holcim chief sustainability officer Nollaig Forrest told Bloomberg the company is one of “the only players in our sector that really takes a whole value chain approach to decarbonizing building at scale.”

While green cement shows promise, the industry has a long way to go before it can outcompete traditional cement. Low-carbon cement isn’t in high demand because it’s expensive to produce compared to kiln-heated cement. Plus, large investments are needed to build new manufacturing plants or retrofit existing ones, per Bloomberg.

However, it’s likely that as green cement is scaled up and optimized, it will be cheaper to manufacture, and demand will rise.

According to Bloomberg, Sublime has received over $200 million in investments since it was launched in 2020. The Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations announced that it will fund up to 50% of Sublime’s first plant construction, signaling optimism in the startup’s future.

“In the cement industry, scale is everything,” Ellis said in a news release. “By pairing Sublime’s technology with Holcim’s advanced global operations from manufacturing and logistics to commercial distribution, we can scale up our impact together.”

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