Slashing CO2Zero-carbon cement.
Big Picture
Cement is the most abundant man-made material on the planet and, at 8% of global emissions, no material on Earth emits more CO₂. Avoiding dangerous levels of warming depends in no small part on how quickly we decarbonize cement as the Earth heads towards 10 billion primarily urban-dwelling residents. Yet, solutions to date are marginally impactful, unfeasibly expensive, or both.
How It Works
Sublime is fully electrifying cement production by leveraging cheap renewables and chemical storage to make carbon-free lime. Their electrochemical approach replaces an extremely energy- and heat-intensive production process with one that runs at room temperature. Beyond cement, the process can extract valuable materials from waste streams and even take in used concrete as a feedstock.
Unfair Advantage
Sublime’s cement product is a zero-carbon drop-in alternative that makes absolutely no sacrifices in performance compared to conventional cement. Even without carbon pricing, it can also be produced at competitive unit economics in a cut-throat global commodity market. If you factor in even a meager carbon tax – where many markets are headed – Sublime’s approach is far tougher to compete with.
01
Ton of CO₂e
avoided per ton of cement produced
LEAH ELLIS CEO & CO-FOUNDER
Before her electrochemistry postdoc at MIT, Leah earned a PhD from Dalhousie University, where she worked on improving lithium-ion cell life for 3M and Tesla.
YET-MING CHIANG CSO & CO-FOUNDER
Yet-Ming Chiang is a professor of materials sciences at MIT, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a serial cleantech entrepreneur.
Cement made at ambient temperature using renewable electricity
Sublime Systems
Sublime Systems secures $40M Series A to electrify and scale decarbonized cement
Business Wire
A new, climate-friendly way to make cement
MIT Technology Review