Carbon Limit Rolls Out Lines to Slash Cement’s Carbon EmissionsCarbon Limit Rolls Out Lines to Slash Cement’s Carbon Emissions
Cement’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could spike to well over 3 billion tons a year by midcentury (about double the current rate) if concrete production’s current trajectory continues, reports the World Economic Forum. In the face of this construction boom, the built community is pressured to drastically slash its emissions, while at the same time cranking out essential products. Novel technologies are rolling out to help achieve both goals.

Concrete is the second most used material in the world (after water), and surging infrastructure needs are pushing demand to new limits. That trend is further driving cement production, a core ingredient in concrete and a huge carbon emitter.
Cement’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could spike to well over 3 billion tons a year by midcentury (about double the current rate) if concrete production’s current trajectory continues, reports the World Economic Forum.
In the face of this construction boom, the built community is pressured to drastically slash its emissions, while at the same time cranking out essential products. Novel technologies are rolling out to help achieve both goals.
Carbon Limit is among tech developers working on the sustainable cement front, selling two emissions-lowering products. The first is an additive that replaces 30 percent of cement, while enhancing concrete’s ability to sequester and permanently store CO2.
“Imagine a road, a bridge, a building, or sidewalks. If they contain this additive, it will absorb CO2, which is mineralized into the concrete, lowering its carbon footprint while strengthening it and making it last longer,” says Tim Sperry, founder and CEO at Carbon Limit.
Branded as CaptureCrete, the technology is licensed to manufacturers of ready-mix concrete and precast products.
In hopes of further driving adoption, Carbon Limit offers cement users an incentive to try it out: a chance to capitalize on carbon credits. The company plans to sell the credits to financial institutions and businesses looking to offset their carbon footprint and will share revenues from credit sales with its customers.
Carbon Limit’s newest launch is an additive dubbed as CoolCrete that also replaces cement, but it has another function: it generates a cooling effect. Early data show the additive can cool concrete surfaces by up to 10°C or more at peak temperatures.
Sperry pitches the technology as another lever that industry can add to its toolbox to help bend the curve on climate change.
“Our days are getting hotter. We experienced the two hottest days in recorded history just this past July, and this trend is generating an urban heat island effect in cities built with manmade building materials, whether it's asphalt, concrete, wood, anything that can absorb heat,” he says.
CoolCrete functions similar to a green roof, reflecting back heat and lowering absorption of that heat to cool buildings—ultimately cutting energy costs and the carbon footprint associated with that energy.
Licensed to cement and concrete producers, CoolCrete is incorporated mainly in rooftops and roads. The product’s first customers are precast companies that make rooftop pavers and rooftop tiles sold to commercial property owners and homeowners. Now Sperry is looking to incorporate the additive into stucco, concrete siding, and other exterior building products.
The young company’s first two jobs were a roadway project with Minnesota’s Department of Transportation and a job for Google at one of its Silicon Valley innovation centers.
Locking in those big players and generating good outcome-based data was key to getting the ball rolling.
“This industry is increasingly becoming interested [in decarbonization], but almost no one wants to go first. So, finding the right projects to kickstart business and get us into more mass market customers—your cement and concrete producers—was critical,” says Sperry.
More startups are coming online to support the built industry, each with its own version of a circular, cleaner cement or cement substitute.
Sublime Systems makes a one-on-one drop-in replacement for cement from industrial wastes and minerals, leveraging a low-energy electrochemical process.
Brimstone makes cement from carbon-free calcium silicate rock instead of limestone.
And Cemvision developed a drop-in material made from mining and steel production byproducts.
Their innovations are joined by others—from limestone fillers and varied, novel admixtures to products that can sometimes fully displace clinker used to make cement.
NCP Industries, a licensing affiliate of Carbon Limit, launched several architectural design products incorporating both of the company’s lines. The concrete company sells CaptureCrete-infused stone veneer through Home Depot and is now incorporating the CoolCrete formula in pavers for rooftops, pool decks, and other structures to sell through multiple outlets.
NCP has entered into an interesting relationship with its licensor; it’s co-branding its product lines with the company. Ryan Collison, president of NCP Industries explains why:
“As we develop products using Carbon Limit’s unique technologies, and that fit our production capabilities and customer base, we want to help build their brand. This in turn helps provide technical and market validation to our product lines, enabling our customers to better understand and feel more comfortable with the technology and products.”
Winning the broad market acceptance that Collison and Sperry talk about is taking time. The concrete sector is a legacy industry that’s changed few practices over two centuries. But this specialized niche is now rethinking its strategy with sustainability in mind.
Sperry anticipates this shift will also mean changes for innovators in the wings with potential solutions. Already that is starting to happen.
“Just a few years ago, we were trying to find a way to produce sustainable products for the same price to gain market share. It was expected.
“But now more and more project developers and state and federal agencies are requiring more sustainable materials, and they are willing to pay a green premium. That's something we're seeing in just the past year that wasn't there before,” says Sperry.
“Now our customers—the cement and concrete companies—see they can make more money by using sustainable concrete in their products.”
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