We're all material girls

??More multi-million dollar funding for green cement

Holcim and CRH, the world’s biggest cement producers, are investing $75 million in Massachusetts-based Sublime Systems, a startup pioneering low-carbon cement. Cement production is a notorious carbon emitter, responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions, but Sublime has developed a breakthrough method that replaces fossil-fuel-powered kilns with an electrochemical process, cutting emissions by up to 90%. This investment signals a serious commitment from Holcim and CRH to decarbonise their operations.

Sublime is currently building a 30,000-ton-per-year plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts, set to open in 2026. Backed by the Department of Energy, the startup aims to scale its technology, retrofit existing plants, and eventually make green cement affordable enough to compete with conventional options. If successful, this partnership could transform the cement industry’s carbon footprint and push the sector closer to sustainability goals.

Sublime isn’t the only startup looking to shake up the industry. Across Europe, companies like CemVision and Material Evolution are developing their own green cement alternatives. CemVision is producing cement with a 95% smaller carbon footprint using industrial byproducts like slag, while Material Evolution has developed a cement-like product that requires no heating at all, cutting emissions by 85%. Both startups are scaling up their operations, with CemVision aiming for 5 million tons of production by 2030 and Material Evolution planning a 150,000-ton factory next year.?

Meanwhile, earlier this year we learned that scientists at Cambridge University are taking a different approach. They’ve developed ‘electric cement’, made by reactivating used cement using the waste heat from steel recycling. This process, trialled in Middlesbrough, promises to produce zero-carbon cement when powered by renewable energy. If scaled successfully, “electric cement” could meet up to a quarter of UK demand and drastically cut global emissions by reusing existing cement in a fully decarbonised process.?

With multiple green cement innovators entering the field, the race is on to replace the 4 billion tons of carbon-heavy cement produced annually.

??Nearly half of global companies are ready to pay a premium for lower emission steel and concrete: report

Following the success of green cement initiatives like those from Sublime Systems, it’s clear that the decarbonisation of materials is rapidly gaining traction. But cement isn’t the only high-carbon offender in town—steel is next on the chopping block. The latest Steel and Concrete Transformation report shines a glaring spotlight on just how crucial it is to clean up these industries, which together contribute to 15% of global emissions.

According to a survey of over 250 industry players, many are ready to shift to lower-emission steel and concrete, even willing to navigate a premium to do so. But, as always, there’s a catch. The report highlights two major hurdles: cost and knowledge gaps. While businesses are pushing for change, they need governments and energy suppliers to step up and de-risk innovation. Decarbonisation isn’t just a one-company job—it's a team sport. The race to net zero requires collaboration between steel and concrete producers, energy grid operators, and policymakers to align sustainability goals with the bottom line.

A notable finding in the report is that lower emission steel and concrete aren't some future pipe dream. With projects like Sweden’s Stegra and their fossil-free steel, change is already happening. As mentioned above, the UK, too, is making waves with electric arc furnaces capable of producing “electric cement” (think recycled cement piggybacking on heat from steel recycling). The hope is that by scaling up, we can bring the costs of these cleaner materials down, making them competitive with their conventional, carbon-heavy counterparts.

Lower-emission materials are here, and they’re becoming more mainstream—if we can crack the code of affordability and availability, the transformation could be faster than we think.

??This week’s listening: Accelerate to Zero by the National Retrofit Hub

The National Retrofit Hub has a brilliant podcast series on the journey to decarbonising our built world by 2050. I discovered this weekend after shuffling through my newsletter’s for this week’s post. Hope you enjoy!

Thanks, as always for reading ??