Fixing cement’s carbon problem
Leah Ellis, co-founder and CEO of Sublime Systems, explains how her company uses electrochemical processes to produce cement at room temperature, avoiding the high-temperature kilns and limestone decomposition that cause 8% of global emissions. Shayle Khan of Energy Impact Partners discusses the limitations of current decarbonization strategies, including supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash and post-combustion carbon capture, highlighting why they offer only incremental reductions. The conversation covers the technical properties of Portland cement, the centralized nature of cement production versus the distributed ready-mix market, and the economic argument that low-carbon cement's 'green premium' is negligible compared to total construction labor costs.