Full Title: Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement
Author(s): Sam Goldman, Paul Majsztrik, Isabelle Sgro Rojas, Mani Gavvalapalli, Raj Gaikwad, Tony Feric, Kelly Visconti, Brandon McMurtry
Publisher(s): U.S. Department of Energy
Publication Date: September 2, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The U.S. cement industry must accelerate decarbonization progress dramatically to keep pace with sector-wide net-zero goals. Cement represents ~7–8% of global CO2 emissions and ~1–2% of U.S. CO2 emissions (~70 MT CO2 /year). Scaling green cement will be critical for the U.S. to achieve net zero overall and will position the U.S. to lead global efforts to decarbonize the sector, including through deployment of U.S.-developed technologies.
Many potential decarbonization approaches are emerging, but nearly all are in pilot stage today in the U.S. and face challenging paths to scale. Combined investment across these approaches would need to reach ~$5–20B cumulatively by 2030 and ~$60–120B cumulatively by 2050 to achieve Liftoff of key technologies and then full decarbonization of the cement industry.
Liftoff for all technologies will hinge on creating a strong demand signal from coordinated lowcarbon procurement—a signal that may come from the government through public procurement. This demand signal will be vital to incentivize the rapid uptake of new technologies, drive aggressive deployment, and mobilize capital at the required scale. Half of U.S. cement demand is driven by federal and state procurement. With their commanding market share, government agencies and large private buyers are in the leading position to send this demand signal and transform the market.