Amazon, Meta, and Prologis have teamed up to form the Sustainable Concrete Buyers Alliance (SCoBA). This great initiative takes on the key challenge of decarbonizing the concrete industry. This coalition’s intent is to use the collective buying power of its membership. In doing so, it aims to pave the way for lower-carbon concrete innovations and address a sector that accounts for almost 8% of total global GHG emissions from cement manufacture.
The concrete manufacturing process alone is the third largest generator of climate changing emissions. By creating SCoBA, these powerful companies are sending a strong signal that they want to see more sustainable practices adopted within the construction industry. Leading this new alliance is Prologis, the world’s largest warehouse real estate investment trust (REIT). Keara Fanning, Prologis’ director of net zero & sustainability, said that low-carbon options really need to be part of the picture.
“Low-carbon cement and concrete are essential to decarbonizing the built environment, and this alliance will help bring next-generation solutions to scale for the benefit of our customers.” – Keara Fanning
Ben Skinner, a manager on RMI’s cement and concrete team, ascribed deep significance to the alliance’s intent. He hopes to use their collective buying power to make a bigger impact. He noted that by uniting major buyers, SCoBA can create off-take agreements that encourage suppliers to invest in decarbonization technologies.
“We’re looking to channel their investments into real off-take agreements that will then enable low-carbon cement and concrete producers to invest in decarbonization projects and ultimately accelerate the market.” – Ben Skinner
SCoBA seeks to do more than make transactions for low-carbon products easier. They want to overcome logistical hurdles, too. Skinner showed that shipping low-carbon cement from California to New York is not a realistic strategy for decarbonization. Rather, it demands greater emphasis on localized solutions. Instead, the alliance empowers buyers to purchase environmental attribute certificates, allowing them to claim low-carbon products without needing to source them locally.
“It doesn’t make logical sense for an ambitious buyer in New York to ship cement that is low-carbon all the way from California for their project. So rather, what we’re enabling would be a transaction in which they are buying an environmental attribute certificate that gives them the rights to that low-carbon product, but the physical product is actually being sourced locally.” – Ben Skinner
That kind of involvement from innovative companies like Brimstone is going to be essential for SCoBA’s success. Brimstone, a new California-based startup, wants to take that idea several steps further by fully decarbonizing the cement industry. Their invitation to become part of the alliance and contribute this invaluable data. “We’re excited to work with the state of Texas on this innovative partnership,” said Cody Finke, CEO of Brimstone.
“It’s a huge win when some of the biggest companies in the world join together to build a market for sustainable concrete.” – Cody Finke
UK cement giants can’t keep talking their way out of net zero promises. The type of large-scale retrofits required to bring their plants into compliance presents enormous obstacles. Collectively, SCoBA holds enormous market power. This provides us an opportunity to push manufacturers to develop greener technologies and methods.
The Sustainable Concrete Buyers Alliance (SCoBA) is an exciting new development in helping concrete buyers take meaningful action on the concrete industry’s climate impact. The alliance helps promote greater coordination through communication among industry leaders. Its mission is to speed up the transition to low-carbon solutions that enrich both the environment and its members’ stakeholders.