The role that cement has played in the foundation of society, pun intended, is almost impossible to quantify. A substance used to bind, set, harden, and adhere, cement is often mixed with finger aggregate to produce masonry for construction in a variety of different ways. The earliest known occurrences of cement can be dated back more than 12 million years ago to a natural deposit formed from oil shale.
Flash forward to the modern-day and cement continues to play a major role in the lives that we lead. However, there is a new form of cement that purports to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. Leading the way are Solidia Technologies and its newest innovative investor and partner, Bryan Kalblfeisch.
What About Green Cement?
If you have never heard of green cement before, we aren’t surprised. When we talk about green cement, we aren’t discussing anything for St. Paddy’s Day. Instead, we are talking about a greener way to produce one of the most utilized and produced commodities on the planet, concrete.
According to the latest production numbers, concrete is second only to water among the most polluting of commodities. Accounting for north of 2.6 billion tonnes of c02 every year, cement production accounts for nearly six percent of ALL global emissions. When quantified as its own country, cement would be considered the fourth largest emitting nation on the planet behind Russia, Japan, and India.
As can be seen, the production of more environmentally friendly cement would do wonders to offset the damaging pollutants that rise into the air every single day. Startups angling to produce greener cement have attempted to pull large investors for years, with the recent efforts by Solidia Technologies gaining particular attention. Alongside Solidia Technologies, venture capitalists have put more than $100 million into cement startups from 2020 to 2021.
Jonah Goldman is the Managing Director at Breakthrough Energy. Breakthrough Energy recently invested in the Solidia startup, along with Ecocem and CarbonCure. Goldman was fascinated by the problems that greener cement start-ups endeavor to solve. For the first time in a long time, it appears that there is a focused direction toward which the industry is working to make greener cement.
According to Ian Riley, CEO of the World Cement Association, shifting to greener cement production can lead to tackling major issues with the environment. Even though green cement processing has been worked on for years, Riley suggests that “70 percent of emissions haven’t been addressed.”
Solidia and Bryan Kalbfleisch
Solidia Technologies and Bryan Kalbfleisch are working together on a process that will potentially change the cement production industry. Kalbfleisch explains how Solidia works, saying, “Solidia cement reacts with c02, using very little water in the precast process.” Kalbfleisch goes on to explain that this is a significant reduction in the water used compared to traditional concrete production.
Unfortunately for Solidia Technologies, cement companies have very few reasons to consider shifting to greener technology outside of the societal pressure imploring them to do so. Right now, there are few if any financial incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Riley goes on to say, “At some point, the social license to operate will depend on producers doing something like this.”
Until then, all eyes are on Solidia as they seek to forcibly shift the cement production industry to greener, healthier, and more planet-friendly pastures. Hopefully, the social cost of not operating greener plants will offset the financial incentive required for these producers to shift their plant practices. For the planet’s sake as well as ours, we can all only hope!
