Building Resilience Coalition

By 2050, it is estimated that pavement sector emissions will decrease by 14% due to improvements like cement clinker replacement, but it is possible to extract a 65% reduction through measures like investing in materials and maintenance practices to make road networks stiffer and smoother, meaning they require less energy to drive on. As a practical example, consider that in 2022, vehicles in the United States collectively drove 3.2 trillion miles. If the average surface roughness of all pavements were improved by 1%, there would be 190 million tons of CO2 saved each year. https://bityl.co/S0Lz

Community resilience is defined by a community's ability to use available resources to respond to, withstand, and recover from adverse situations. Strengthening community resilience helps people, businesses, and cities maintain essential functions, bounce back from adversity, and move towards enhanced well-being. Explore resources for building resilient communities, https://bityl.co/S0j3

With sustainable cement, the startup aims to eliminate gigatons of CO? While today’s cement is made through extremely high temperatures in a kiln, ancient Romans didn’t have that option. Still, anyone who’s been to Rome recently will tell you that ancient cement seems to have held up just fine. The startup Sublime Systems thinks the Romans were onto something. The MIT spinout has created a drop-in replacement for today’s most commonly used cement, Portland cement. It uses electrochemistry to skip the ultrahigh temperatures of conventional production and the immense carbon dioxide emissions that go with it. “Romans couldn’t go to those obscene temperatures, but they’ve proven their cement is hard and durable, and we now have 2,000 years of innovation to get that cement to meet the criteria we expect out of modern cement,” explains Sublime co-founder and CEO Leah Ellis, who developed the approach as a postdoc in the lab of Sublime co-founder and MIT Professor Yet-Ming Chiang. Sublime’s approach has the potential to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency estimates that cement is responsible for about 7 percent of human-driven carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Sublime’s process eliminates emissions by foregoing high temperatures and the use of limestone, which is nearly 50 percent CO? by weight, in favor of a novel electrochemical process. “Cement enabled civilization as we know it today, but now it needs to be reinvented,” says Chiang, who is MIT’s Kyocera Professor of Ceramics. “Cement creates about 4 gigatons of emissions a year, and by 2050, that’s projected to become 6 gigatons a year. I think of what we’re doing as technically a feasible way of decreasing those 4 gigatons of cement emissions as soon as possible.” https://bityl.co/S0NC

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! PNWER ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP FORUM November 12 - 14, 2024 | Anchorage, AK The Economic Leadership Forum allows local, provincial, and state leaders in the public and private sectors to conduct in-depth discussions on key subjects affecting our regional economy. This year’s event will be coordinated with the Alaska Resources Conference. The forum will provide a platform to discuss a variety of regionally significant topics, including Energy-Critical Minerals Tourism—leveraging FIFA opportunities for regionally impact economic corridors. Register Here: https://bityl.co/S0Bn

The extent of natural carbon uptake can vary by a factor of ten among cement-based elements within the home. ? Natural carbon uptake is an essential element of the life cycle impact of cement-based products but can also be considered a method for neutralizing CO2 emissions. ? There are opportunities for designers, producers, and contractors to increase natural carbon uptake in many cement-based elements where prudent. The extent of natural carbon uptake can vary by a factor of ten among cement-based elements within the home. ? Natural carbon uptake is an important element of the life cycle impact of cement-based products but can also be considered a method for neutralizing CO2 emissions. ? There are opportunities for designers, producers, and contractors to increase natural carbon uptake in many cement-based elements where prudent. Download the Brief here: https://bityl.co/S0MJ

Nestled in a former airplane hangar in the sprawling former Navy base at Magnuson Park, construction and engineering students from the University of Washington stress-test recipes for concrete—one of the world’s most used substances. Since the Babylonians, every civilization has produced concrete made with cement, water, and aggregates. At the University of Washington Center for Education and Research in Construction (CERC), university students are joining in the centuries-long quest to refine and perfect this essential material. https://bityl.co/S0iC

By 2050, it is estimated that pavement sector emissions will decrease by 14% due to improvements like cement clinker replacement, but it is possible to extract a 65% reduction through measures like investing in materials and maintenance practices to make road networks stiffer and smoother, meaning they require less energy to drive on. As a practical example, consider that in 2022, vehicles in the United States collectively drove 3.2 trillion miles. If the average surface roughness of all pavements were improved by 1%, there would be 190 million tons of CO2 saved each year. https://bityl.co/S0Lz

The rapid increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events would suggest that many cities and businesses still need to be ready.

With sustainable cement, the startup aims to eliminate gigatons of CO? While today’s cement is made through extremely high temperatures in a kiln, ancient Romans didn’t have that option. Still, anyone who’s been to Rome recently will tell you that ancient cement seems to have held up just fine. The startup Sublime Systems thinks the Romans were onto something. The MIT spinout has created a drop-in replacement for today’s most commonly used cement, Portland cement. It uses electrochemistry to skip the ultrahigh temperatures of conventional production and the immense carbon dioxide emissions that go with it. “Romans couldn’t go to those obscene temperatures, but they’ve proven their cement is hard and durable, and we now have 2,000 years of innovation to get that cement to meet the criteria we expect out of modern cement,” explains Sublime co-founder and CEO Leah Ellis, who developed the approach as a postdoc in the lab of Sublime co-founder and MIT Professor Yet-Ming Chiang. Sublime’s approach has the potential to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The International Energy Agency estimates that cement is responsible for about 7 percent of human-driven carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Sublime’s process eliminates emissions by foregoing high temperatures and the use of limestone, which is nearly 50 percent CO? by weight, in favor of a novel electrochemical process. “Cement enabled civilization as we know it today, but now it needs to be reinvented,” says Chiang, who is MIT’s Kyocera Professor of Ceramics. “Cement creates about 4 gigatons of emissions a year, and by 2050, that’s projected to become 6 gigatons a year. I think of what we’re doing as technically a feasible way of decreasing those 4 gigatons of cement emissions as soon as possible.” https://bityl.co/S0NC

The extent of natural carbon uptake can vary by a factor of ten among cement-based elements within the home. ? Natural carbon uptake is an essential element of the life cycle impact of cement-based products but can also be considered a method for neutralizing CO2 emissions. ? There are opportunities for designers, producers, and contractors to increase natural carbon uptake in many cement-based elements where prudent. The extent of natural carbon uptake can vary by a factor of ten among cement-based elements within the home. ? Natural carbon uptake is an important element of the life cycle impact of cement-based products but can also be considered a method for neutralizing CO2 emissions. ? There are opportunities for designers, producers, and contractors to increase natural carbon uptake in many cement-based elements where prudent. Download the Brief here: https://bityl.co/S0MJ