Sublime Systems has announced a screening life cycle assessment (LCA) validating that its ordinary Portland cement (OPC) replacement process can eliminate more than 90 per cent of the global warming potential of cement manufacturing.
Climate Earth, the leading provider of environmental product declarations (EPDs) for the concrete industry, conducted this LCA according to a widely-accepted industry method, avoiding controversial and unproven offset methodologies frequently used to enable the continued burning of fossil fuels.
The cradle-to-gate screening LCA leverages engineering estimates of Sublime Systems’ full-scale commercial manufacturing process and was conducted in conformance with ISO 21930, which is used for the development of EPDs for construction products and services. It found Sublime’s manufacturing process resulted in a GWP of 72kg CO2/t for a 100 per cent Sublime Cement™ blend, compared to the 922kg CO2/t GWP found in the EPD for industry-wide average OPC in the United States. The remaining emissions were largely related to the mining and transportation of feedstocks and waste and wastewater treatment, processes that are primarily upstream and downstream of Sublime’s core manufacturing innovations. Sublime’s screening LCA also showed drastically reduced acidification and eutrophication potentials (among others) without increased water consumption, reflecting a lower environmental footprint and permitting timeline compared to today’s OPC.
Sublime Systems is advancing a fully-electrified process for manufacturing cement without requiring the use of fossil fuels or limestone. This carbon avoidance approach harnesses clean, renewable sources of electricity and a wide range of calcium-containing raw materials to produce the same final hardened phase in concrete that the global construction industry requires today. Sublime Cement™ does not rely on carbon capture and storage infrastructure to reduce CO2 emissions, enabling cost parity to OPC when produced at scale, without dependence on carbon credits or carbon penalties, claims Sublime Systems.
