Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement & Concrete

💭 How can we make the cementitious 'golden age' a reality? A new study by McKinsey & Company on the future of the cement industry shows how: ➡️ Shifting from #cement to cementitious materials is key to driving decarbonisation - efficiently and cost effectively!   ➡️ The potential of clinker substitution surpasses traditional industry prognoses! And in the EU, supply and demand are ready to accelerate.   👀 Our roadmap for EU decisionmakers to usher in a new era for the cement industry: https://lnkd.in/euVZ_6ys

One sector in particular deserves more attention when considering the role of green public procurement: #construction. The construction sector produces some of the most energy-intensive materials, such as #cement and #concrete. Meanwhile, public projects account for 31% of the sector’s activities, giving public authorities substantial purchasing power to drive the market towards truly green construction products. But first, it is crucial to ensure standards for cement and concrete are fully performance-based. Any delays will continue hindering the large-scale uptake of low-carbon materials – even with strong green public procurement measures in place – and, ultimately, prevent the EU from achieving its own climate goals for the construction sector. 👀 Check out this new report from ECOS, a member of the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete: https://lnkd.in/ejsfnxPu

The challenge of decarbonising #concrete is not technological. It's regulatory! 🏗️ Safe, scalable, and low-carbon solutions already exist but the lack of harmonisation of the main European concrete standard (EN 206) creates significant barriers to making those solutions the norm. This standard covers all types of concrete and nearly all types of precast concrete, providing recommendations on how to safely produce it. 📊 However, it’s non-harmonised nature means that all national standardisation bodies can – and typically do – deviate from the general recommendations in their national concrete standards. A harmonised European concrete standard has the potential to fix this and make low-carbon concrete the norm, ensuring that solutions are deployed at a much faster rate. ➡️ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e_ZiTQ85

Cement and concrete are the backbone of Europe’s infrastructure, but they also account for 7-8% of global CO2 emissions. Proven solutions to reduce the need for traditional cement exist, but outdated standards are blocking their scale-up across Europe. The Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement & Concrete (ALCCC) is calling for technology-neutral standards that allow clean innovations to thrive. Without change, European innovators may seek more favorable markets. Read the open letter here: https://nt-z.ro/3UGhgN5

We talk about... ⚡ electric instead of petrol cards. 🔥 Heat pumps instead of gas boilers. 🚂 Trains instead of planes. So, why aren't we talking about low-carbon cement instead of highly-polluting traditional cement? Change in the cement industry doesn’t have to be a far-off pipe dream — it could happen today. Low-carbon technologies already exist, but policymakers have so far failed to put #standards and policies in place that will usher in their market uptake. 🔗 Our op-ed on how the European cement industry can become competitive and clean: https://lnkd.in/eNhjQHcJ

Today, the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete – alongside 23 leading #cleantech innovators, industry associations, and civil society organisations – called on the European Commission to stay committed to developing a technology-neutral and performance-based approach to #cement standardisation in Europe. ➡️ Our message is clear: A performance-based approach is the only way forward to secure the European cement industry’s long-term future and competitiveness. 🔗 Read our open letter: https://lnkd.in/eq8BQHz2

Today is #WorldStandardsDay! 🔎 Just like cement and concrete, #standards are everywhere in our everyday lives – but they are often overlooked. And the importance of standards for cement and concrete decarbonisation cannot be emphasised enough. 🏢 Safe, proven, and scalable low-carbon solutions exist, but updated standards are urgently needed to make them the norm. Our latest report highlights how European concrete standards can make that shift a reality. Current European concrete standards maintain a decades-old prescriptive approach, slowing down what should be a rapid deployment of innovative technologies across Europe. Through the Construction Products Regulation acquis process, policymakers have a unique opportunity to fix this. This opportunity could not have come soon enough! It’s high time harmonise concrete standards across Europe with a performance-based approach. ➡️ Learn more and find the full report: https://lnkd.in/e_ZiTQ85

We’re pleased to announce the closing of our Series C! With this raise, we’re moving ahead with the deployment of additional ReCarb plants to bring more green cement to the market. Our CEO Ryan Gilliam shares, “With the launch of our first plant and the close of this funding round, we’re entering into the next phase of our development as a commercial project company to accelerate low- to zero-carbon cement deployment. It’s vital to have the financial means to put operations in place to commercialize our technology, and we are honored to have the backing and expertise of some of the most knowledgeable investment firms in project finance and the cement and concrete industry as we carve the path to zero CO2 cement.” Thank you to our investors, including Khosla Ventures, Temasek, Wollemi Capital, NOVA by Saint-Gobain, Presidio Ventures, and Alumni Ventures, for believing in our mission to decarbonize the cement industry at scale. Together, we're paving the way to a greener future in construction. 🌱 Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/gVmzDCte #Sustainability #GreenTech #CleanTech #SeriesC #GreenCement

What are Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs)? And how can they tackle cement and concrete's massive emissions problem? 🏭 SCMs are a set of materials that serve as partial replacement of traditional clinker in cement, or as partial replacement of cement in concrete mixes. Traditional clinker is the main culprit of cement emissions, accounting for over 90% (‼️) of its footprint. Despite ample solutions being ready to be scaled up, the use of clinker in cement is virtually unchanged in Europe. And globally, the share of clinker is on the rise. 👀 Learn more in our factsheet: https://lnkd.in/e4UAme8Q

It mostly goes unnoticed, but cement is a part of our everyday lives. Still, very few of us are aware of its massive environmental impact – accounting for 8% of global CO2 emissions. And even fewer know that solutions exist to significantly reduce these negative impacts – today. It is now on the shoulders of legislators in the upcoming policy cycle to make them the norm in the EU. From shifting to performance-based standards to unlocking the potential of green public procurement, our Alliance has developed a roadmap for 2024 to 2029 to help! ➡️ Find it here: https://lnkd.in/euVZ_6ys