In order to slow the trajectory of climate change, the global community must address emissions from hard-to-abate industries. For industrial decarbonization, McKinsey places a particular emphasis on four focus sectors: ammonia, cement, ethylene, and steel. The steel and cement industries represent the two largest emitting manufacturing sectors on the planet. Each sector accounts for about…
As demand for steel is projected to rise 30 percent by 2050 due to the expansion of infrastructure and cities across the world, the carbon impacts generated by the industry are becoming more severe. Green steel is the concept of producing steel without fossil fuels or GHG emissions, under the principles of decarbonization and circularity…
Strategies to mitigate the climate crisis are accelerating in line with the severity of global carbon emissions. Existing materials—like concrete—can be optimized using carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology to permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere. When the end product of this CCUS is a hardened substance like concrete, this lasting carbon removal is…
Though the voluntary carbon markets have risen in popularity, not all carbon credits are created equal. Under the carbon credits system, a company engaged in practices that support the preservation of the environment can sell a certified emissions reduction (CER) credit to company with hard-to-abate emissions; this allows for more sustainable companies to profit and…
When if comes to setting a global example for sustainability initiatives, Canadian cities are being recognized for top performance. In an interview with Saint-Gobain’s Constructing a Sustainable Future magazine, George Benson, the Senior Manager for Economic Transformation at the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) discussed the how Vancouver became an exemplary sustainable city, and how its…
When quantifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and their effect on our modern society, it can be hard to find a metric that accurately expresses the cost of these emissions. In 2008, after a Centre for Biological Diversity lawsuit regarding new fuel economy standards, the United States government tasked the Department of Transportation with producing an…
Sustainability in the built environment is a growing global concern, and markets such as the green building materials market are experiencing tremendous growth as a result. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, is a program created not only to certify existing green building practices, but also to encourage future projects to develop sustainable…
As governments around the globe prioritize low-carbon concrete in new building projects, finding suitable replacements for cement in the concrete mix is at the forefront of new developments in infrastructure technology. Although cement makes up only about 10% of concrete’s mix design by weight, its production is responsible for 90% of the emissions associated with…
As the construction sector continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in demand is being met with a shortage in supply. Cement, the main active ingredient in concrete, has seen a recent shortage and a corresponding hike in prices. Writing for Bloomberg, Chris Bryant reported that in 2023, cement prices rose by around…
Our infrastructure makes up our first line of defense against a changing climate, and a corresponding increase in natural hazards. In order to create a resilient infrastructure, materials must be climate resilient. The MIT Climate Portal defines climate resilience as “how well something withstands, and how quickly it recovers from, natural hazards made worse by…