The Climate Action Reserve is developing a U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol that will provide guidance on how to quantify, monitor, report, and verify the climate benefits associated with the alternative use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) or alternative cementitious materials (ACMs) to produce cement. Production of portland cement (PC) accounts for approximately seven percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions with most of these emissions resulting from calcination to produce clinker, the primary intermediate component of PC. With the opportunity to significantly reduce emissions by replacing clinker with byproduct or naturally derived SCMs/ACMs, the U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol will incentivize industrial-scale SCM availability to meet market demands and achieve emission reduction ambitions.
Version 1.0
The protocol will be presented to the Reserve Board of Directors for consideration for adoption at the October 4, 2023 Board meeting.
- Low-Carbon Cement Protocol Version 1.0 – for Board consideration
- Attestation of SCM/ACM Use – for Board consideration
Public Comment Period
The public comment period was held from August 9, 2023 to September 8, 2023. See below for the draft protocol released in August 2023, the summary of comments and responses from Reserve staff, as well as the submitted comments in their entirety.
Summary of Comments and Responses – Draft U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol
Dale Prentice (UCLA Institute for Carbon Management) | Ingy El Kafrawy (CarbonCure) |
Ryan Cialdella (Ozinga) | Dale Hauke (Urban Mining Industries) |
Greg Williams (Sublime) | William V. Srubar III, Ph.D. (University of Colorado Boulder) |
Cindy McLaughlin (CarbonBuilt) | Ryan Gilliam (Forterra) |
Ryan Bourns (Carbon Upcycling) | Kayla Carey (ClimeCo) |
Lai Kuku (Carbon Resolve) | Pradeep Ghosh (Solidia Technologies) |
Julie Kelleher (3Degrees) | Matthew Lemay (NRMCA) |
Yuri Mytko (CarbiCrete) | Juan Gonzalez (Vulcan Materials Company) |
Rebekkah Swisher (Partanna Global, Inc.) |
U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol Public Comment Webinar
The Reserve held a public comment webinar on August 25, 2023 to discuss the draft protocol in detail and to solicit public comment:
Stakeholder Engagement
The Reserve seeks to engage stakeholders throughout the U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol development process to identify and incorporate applicable laws, norms, and conditions applicable to the cement industry in the United States as well as specific improvements and changes to existing industrial manufacturing processes to ensure its successful implementation.
Workgroup
The U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol is being developed through the Reserve’s multi-stakeholder workgroup process. The Reserve strives to create a well-balanced workgroup consisting of industry representatives, project developers, environmental NGOs, verification bodies, independent consultants, academia, and government bodies.
Ash Grove | National Ready Mix Concrete Association |
Athena Institute | Nichols Consulting Engineers (NCE) |
California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) | NRDC |
Carbonomics | Portland Cement Association |
ClimeCo | Ruby Canyon Environmental |
Eco Material Technologies | Salt River Materials Group (SRMG) |
Institute for Carbon management (UCLA) | SEFA Group |
Lehigh Hanson |
Stakeholders not in the workgroup are encouraged to participate in the process as “observers.” Observers may attend workgroup meetings in listen-only mode, submit written comments on the draft methodology when it is available for public comment, and attend the public webinar(s) held during the public comment period.
Workgroup Meetings
Low-Carbon Cement Workgroup Meeting 5
April 19, 2023
- Meeting recording
- Presentation slides
- Notes and takeaways
- Draft workgroup protocol – April 2023
- Draft workgroup protocol – June 2023
Low-Carbon Cement Workgroup Meeting 4
March 17, 2023
Low-Carbon Cement Workgroup Meeting 3
February 17, 2023
Low-Carbon Cement Workgroup Meeting 2
January 20, 2023
Low-Carbon Cement Workgroup Meeting 1
December 19, 2022
Kickoff Webinar
The Reserve held a public webinar on November 3, 2022, to kick-off the U.S. Low-Carbon Cement Protocol development process.
Development Timeline
The following timeline will be updated as the protocol development process unfolds.
Protocol kickoff webinar | November 3, 2022 |
Workgroup SOIs due | November 18, 2022 |
Formation of workgroup | November 2022 |
Reserve staff finalizes draft protocol | November 2022 |
Workgroup meetings | December 2022 – March 2023 |
Public comment period | April 2023 |
Protocol presented to Reserve Board for approval | June 2023 |
Resources
Please contact the Reserve with questions or comments.
Technical and Financial Support
Partial funding and technical support were provided by ClimeCo.