Founder and CEO, Chement
Decarbonizing Cement Production to Slow Climate Change
In 2018, physicist and doctoral candidate Gregory Houchins (MCS 2017, 2020) was exploring Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Energy Week events when a guest speaker put him on the path to becoming the founder and CEO of Chement. Decarbonizing cement production started with a presentation on climate mitigation and a list of industries with the biggest carbon footprint.
鈥淸The speaker] mentioned cement, then brushed it off as a big problem where no one鈥檚 done very much. Throughout the continuation of my Ph.D., I really couldn鈥檛 stop thinking about it,鈥� Greg says.
Cement is environmentally problematic in two ways: The intense heat needed to change the raw materials is energy intensive, and the transformation of calcium carbonate into calcium silicate releases tremendous amounts of carbon.
The electrochemistry of lithium batteries, which were a main focus of Greg鈥檚 research, held the answer. Electricity could replace heat to create the hard-setting building material the world voraciously craves. Replacing the kiln with something that works like a perpetually-charging battery solves the problem. It activates ionic reactions in the raw materials, and can use a different kind of calcium in the recipe that doesn鈥檛 release nearly as much carbon.
Greg鈥檚 startup, Chement, is in its early stages, and is just now taking his research into production. His team is still refining the electrified cement recipe and process. When that happens he鈥檒l have a technology to offer cement manufacturers that are eager to decarbonize with a new, cleaner process for cement production.
鈥淲e can actually use less energy, drastically reduce carbon and cut the cost of cement, which is really remarkable,鈥� Greg says. 鈥淐ement is this ubiquitous material that鈥檚 part of major infrastructure 鈥� everyone needs it. Making it more sustainable is what drives me.鈥�
Story by Elizabeth Speed