Innovation and Collaboration in the Concrete Sector

The Cement Association of Canada partnered with Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to prepare a summary of ten case studies of innovation and collaboration in the concrete sector supported by ERA and the TIER fund over the past ten years. The following is an excerpt from a Transportation Association of Canada Sponsor Spotlight Article. Read the full article here.

Concrete is the world’s second-largest industrial CO₂ emitter, representing up to 8% of CO₂ emissions globally and 1.4% in Canada. Concrete is also the world’s second largest commodity, second only to water, which means turning concrete into a net-zero industry is a critical piece of mitigating climate change. The Canadian concrete industry has a history of innovation in the context of changing market forces, and technologies exist today to fully decarbonize this sector within our lifetimes – without the use of offsets. 

Recently, in collaboration with industry partners, the Cement Association of Canada launched Concrete Zero: Canada’s cement and concrete industry action plan to net-zero. Our action plan shows that emissions reductions (based on a 2020 baseline) of 40% by 2030, 60% by 2040, and net-zero by 2050 are possible using the technologies available today.   

Case Studies of Innovation and Collaboration

Innovation and collaboration are essential to producing net-zero cement and concrete by 2050. We partnered with Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to prepare a summary of ten case studies of innovation and collaboration in the concrete sector supported by ERA and the TIER fund over the past ten years. Together, these projects show how Canadian innovation and entrepreneurs are addressing most, if not all, emissions reduction pathways and exemplify the technology leadership of Canada’s heavy industry. 

Click here to read the full report: Scaling Innovation in Heavy Industry: 10 Case Studies of Innovation and Collaboration in the Concrete Sector.