Fortera, a U.S.-based company, has recently opened its first environmentally friendly cement production facility in North America, situated in Redding, California. With a size of 2787m2, the ReCarb plant operates in conjunction with the existing CalPortland cement plant. This innovative facility captures CO₂ emissions and converts the CO₂ into calcium carbonate to produce the company’s low-carbon ReAct cement. Incomparison to traditional methods, this process effectively reduces emissions by 70%, generating a ton of ‘green’ cement for every ton of limestone input. The primary goal of the facility is to capture 6600 tons of CO₂ annually and to manufacture 15,000 tons per year of environmentally friendly cement.

Fortera’s CEO, Ryan Gilliam, has disclosed that the company has planned 20 upcoming ventures with various cement producers, with each project estimated to cost around US$150 million. Among these projects is a plant in the Midwest that will significantly increase production capacity by 25 times compared to the Redding facility, aiming to produce 400,000 tons per year of ‘green’ cement. Emphasizing the company’s strategy, Gilliam stated, ‘Fortera aims to leverage what they do well... their feedstocks, infrastructure, from quarry to kilns, as well as the back-end logistics and sales. Could we take that technology we’ve piloted and proven out and make it economically competitive within the cement industry?’ Looking towards the future, Fortera is seeking substantial investments to support its ambitious lineup of new plants. Currently, the company has 20 projects in progress withcement producers, with an approximate cost of $150 million each. One such project, set to be announced soon in the Western United States, will mark a 25-fold increase in scale over the Redding plant, targeting an annual production of400,000 tons of green cement.

Fortera has already secured $104 million in funding from prominent venture capital firms like Khosla Ventures and Presidio Ventures. With offices in San Jose, Europe, and now Redding, the company employs a workforce of 70 employees.

Sources:

San Francisco Business Times

Globalcement.com