'Cement'-ing change - routes to decarbonize concrete
Ripple Hosts
Pedro Garcia
Zacua Ventures
Nicole Florack
2150
From electric kilns that can reach up to +1500˚C to bacteria that precipitate cement, creative solutions abound for decarbonising concrete. But to move beyond the lab, startups must successfully navigate building codes, risk aversion, and capex requirements. What can startups do to build confidence with regulators, customers, and financiers and reach scale?
Topic overview
After water, we use more concrete than any other material on the planet. Each year, we use ~30 billion tonnes of concrete, for our bridges, our roads, even our homes. But for every 1 tonne of Portland cement — the conventional glue within concrete — we emit c. 1 tonne of CO2. As a result, the industry is responsible for c.7% of global CO2 emissions. Decarbonising cement & concrete is imperative for sustainable growth, but there are no easy options. Attendees should join to discuss the decarbonisation pathways being pursued by startups and identify the key hurdles innovators must overcome to fulfil impact & commercial potential.
What’s up for discussion?
Overview of the main approaches to decarbonize cement
Options to navigating CapEx and Codes - 2 big hurdles for founders
Scalability: key ingredients to cover to grow from grams to tons and expand across regions
The VC case: why there is a big opportunity for early-stage investors, and what to look out for
Dream outcome
Who should attend?
Anyone interested or involved in the cement / concrete industry (such as CVC leads or executives at cement companies), investors in decarbonization (such as climate tech funds) that are ideally pursuing heavy-industry decarb, and founders of companies in the green cement space. We invite anyone who wants to learn and discuss about making concrete more sustainable to join the forum.