Michael Ireland
President and CEO at Portland Cement Association
Portland Cement Association has recently announced the release of its Roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality across the concrete value chain by 2050. The cement and concrete industry is committed to addressing climate change and reducing emissions, and this Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality will guide us on our ambitious and critical decarbonization journey.
To reach this goal, the U.S. cement industry has aligned and PCA is gathering a coalition of thought leaders, researchers and stakeholders along the value chain that make this Roadmap a reality. Only by working together as an industry can we hope to realize the multitude of solutions that must be developed across policies and regulations, technology and innovation and demand generation. There is a strong need for broad collaboration even beyond the industry, and we are leading on bringing the right people to the table.
Importantly, many of the solutions included in the Roadmap are products, technologies and approaches that exist today – lower carbon cement and concrete are available today. By bringing together partners across the value chain, we intend to shift mindsets and increase awareness and adoption of these solutions.
The U.S. cement industry aligning under a formal and measurable commitment to reduce emissions comes at a critical time in our country. The construction sector is poised for growth, with the U.S. predicted to add another 121 billion square feet of buildings by 2050, the equivalent of constructing New York City every year for the next 20 years. This doesn’t account for the trillions of dollars the country is poised to spend reviving infrastructure, rehabilitating existing roads and bridges, and expanding construction in growing cities. Development at this scale means the cement and concrete industry has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set a global example on building sustainably, utilizing new approaches, and advocating for updated technology.
America’s cement producers have a strong culture of innovation and are in constant pursuit of finding efficient ways of producing the high-quality cement our nation needs for homes, highways, hospitals and infrastructure. The Roadmap accelerates industry alignment and identifies challenges and barriers that must be addressed in order to achieve carbon neutrality. It enables our member companies and partners along the concrete value chain to address climate change and continue building a better future, shaped by concrete. We invite stakeholders to join this ambition to realize carbon neutrality across the full concrete value chain.
Learn more about the Roadmap here.
