Fortera Takes Concrete Steps to Reduce the Climate Impact of Cement

With growing concern about climate change, the race has been on to find solutions for manufacturing cement, a building material responsible for about 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. As part of that effort, California startup Fortera has developed a technology that reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released in the process of cement production. More importantly, this technology has the potential to operate at large scale, the company says. The goal is to create an economically competitive option for the cement industry that can be installed widely at existing cement plants instead of changing how the industry currently operates.

Essentially, Fortera intercepts carbon dioxide exhaust from cement-making kilns and routes it back into the cement-making process to make more cement. The first effort to use the technology on a commercial scale is being made at one of the largest cement plants in the western U.S., a CalPortland facility in Redding, Calif., The Mercury News reports. 

“Our target is about being a ubiquitous solution that can work really at any plant,” said Ryan Gilliam, Fortera CEO.

Initially Fortera will produce enough to mix with about one-fifth of CalPortland’s product in a blend that reduces carbon by about 10%. Gilliam said there is a strong demand for higher blends that reduce carbon by 40-50%, and for a pure product the company makes, which has 70% lower carbon.

The first large sacks are scheduled to move out the door of the Redding plant the first week of May.

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