Scaling Sustainability · 2023-02-23 · 38 min
The road to decarbonization hasn't been an easy one for the cement industry. The sector, which produces about 4 billion metric tons of the world's most common building material, simultaneously puts almost 4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, or about 7% of the world's total emissions. But, thanks to leaders like Ian Riley, movement is happening. In 2019, Ian joined the World Cement Association as CEO, leading the organization's key mission of sustainability, innovation and internationalization to face the challenges associated with creating a sustainable cement industry. He is responsible for motivating members to improve product selection, use new technologies and drive innovation to find approaches for less energy-intensive and more sustainable cement production. Ian is passionate about reducing the industry's GHG emissions so as to accelerate the response to climate change and achieve full decarbonization by 2050. During this episode, Ian and I had an insightful conversation about some of the unsolved problems that are standing in the way of more sustainable cement production. Resources mentioned in today's episode:
Getting Plastic Out of Our Daily Routines with Lindsay McCormick of BITE (Episode 56)61 / 100Green Amendments and Environmental Rights with Maya K. van Rossum (Episode 55)The Architecture Industry and Sustainability with Kevin Deabler (Episode 53)How Sustainability and Profitability Can Coexist with Brennan Spellacy (Episode 52)Revolutionizing Omega-3 Industry with Corinna Bellizzi (Episode 51)