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Decarbonizing Cement with alcemy's Software
Podcast |
My Climate Journey
Publisher |
Jason Jacobs, Cody Simms, Yin Lu
Media Type |
audio
Podknife tags |
Climate Change, 
Interview, 
Science & Medicine
Categories Via RSS |
Business, 
Science, 
Technology
Publication Date |
Aug 03, 2023
Episode Duration |
00:46:37

Leopold Spenner is CEO and Co-founder of alcemy, which is accelerating the decarbonization of cement and concrete via software. 

Concrete is one of the most abundant manmade materials on earth, and it's exceedingly hard to decarbonize. Most of its emissions footprint comes from the production of cement, the materials that provide concrete with its strength. By most estimates, cement is responsible for upwards of 8% of global emissions. Cement production generates emissions in two major ways. One is from a chemical reaction during the cracking of limestone that's used to produce cement. And the other is from the extreme heat that this process requires. 

Many cement plants around the world have begun employing carbon capture technologies on premises to get to net-zero. Beyond that, there are companies working to lower cement emissions by changing the ingredients mix or by trying to take away the need for extreme heat. It's a hard problem, but alcemy introduces another possible solution: efficiency. Their software helps cement and ready-made concrete producers to create product more efficiently, which should result in less waste and in less limestone that needs to be heated and cracked. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, we cover: 

  • [2:07] Leo's background and how he got involved in decarbonizing cement
  • [5:57] Innovation in the cement and concrete industry 
  • [10:39] The production challenges of cement and concrete 
  • [13:34] An overview of limestone
  • [16:28] The 28-day quality sampling process for cement and concrete 
  • [18:58] Emissions reductions potential for both 
  • [21:24] alcemy's predictive analytics software 
  • [23:35] How the company's tech improves quality, cost, and emissions reductions 
  • [25:09] alcemy's results to date 
  • [26:03] How the company helps to create concrete mixes
  • [29:30] The scaling hurdle of integrating with legacy software systems 
  • [33:55] The role of clinker efficiency and what it entails 
  • [37:02] alcemy's traction to date and funding milestones 
  • [38:12] Who Leo wants to hear from and what's next for alcemy 
  • [41:20] How the market is evolving around lower carbon cement, including the carbon market 

Episodes mentioned: 

Get connected:Leopold Spenner LinkedInCody Simms Twitter / LinkedInMCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on July 27, 2023 (Published on August 3, 2023) 

Get connected with MCJ: 

*If you liked this episode, please consider giving us a review! You can also reach us via email at info@mcj.vc, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Leopold Spenner is CEO and Co-founder of alcemy, which is accelerating the decarbonization of cement and concrete via software. Concrete is one of the most abundant manmade materials on earth, and it's exceedingly hard to decarbonize. Most of its emissions footprint comes from the production of cement, the materials that provide concrete with its strength. By most estimates, cement is responsible for upwards of 8% of global emissions. Cement production generates emissions in two major ways. One is from a chemical reaction during the cracking of limestone that's used to produce cement. And the other is from the extreme heat that this process requires. Many cement plants around the world have begun employing carbon capture technologies on premises to get to net-zero. Beyond that, there are companies working to lower cement emissions by changing the ingredients mix or by trying to take away the need for extreme heat. It's a hard problem, but alcemy introduces another possible solution: efficiency. Their software helps cement and ready-made concrete producers to create product more efficiently, which should result in less waste and in less limestone that needs to be heated and cracked. Enjoy the show!

Leopold Spenner is CEO and Co-founder of alcemy, which is accelerating the decarbonization of cement and concrete via software. 

Concrete is one of the most abundant manmade materials on earth, and it's exceedingly hard to decarbonize. Most of its emissions footprint comes from the production of cement, the materials that provide concrete with its strength. By most estimates, cement is responsible for upwards of 8% of global emissions. Cement production generates emissions in two major ways. One is from a chemical reaction during the cracking of limestone that's used to produce cement. And the other is from the extreme heat that this process requires. 

Many cement plants around the world have begun employing carbon capture technologies on premises to get to net-zero. Beyond that, there are companies working to lower cement emissions by changing the ingredients mix or by trying to take away the need for extreme heat. It's a hard problem, but alcemy introduces another possible solution: efficiency. Their software helps cement and ready-made concrete producers to create product more efficiently, which should result in less waste and in less limestone that needs to be heated and cracked. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, we cover: 

  • [2:07] Leo's background and how he got involved in decarbonizing cement
  • [5:57] Innovation in the cement and concrete industry 
  • [10:39] The production challenges of cement and concrete 
  • [13:34] An overview of limestone
  • [16:28] The 28-day quality sampling process for cement and concrete 
  • [18:58] Emissions reductions potential for both 
  • [21:24] alcemy's predictive analytics software 
  • [23:35] How the company's tech improves quality, cost, and emissions reductions 
  • [25:09] alcemy's results to date 
  • [26:03] How the company helps to create concrete mixes
  • [29:30] The scaling hurdle of integrating with legacy software systems 
  • [33:55] The role of clinker efficiency and what it entails 
  • [37:02] alcemy's traction to date and funding milestones 
  • [38:12] Who Leo wants to hear from and what's next for alcemy 
  • [41:20] How the market is evolving around lower carbon cement, including the carbon market 

Episodes mentioned: 

Get connected:Leopold Spenner LinkedInCody Simms Twitter / LinkedInMCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on July 27, 2023 (Published on August 3, 2023) 

Get connected with MCJ: 

*If you liked this episode, please consider giving us a review! You can also reach us via email at info@mcj.vc, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

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