Microsoft Signals Intent to Purchase Environmental Attributes of Low-Carbon Cement
Microsoft has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sublime Systems, developer of low-carbon cement technology, for the purchase of environmental attribute certificates (EACs) generated from Sublime’s commercial facilities.
The collaboration is intended to inform the development of a book and claim market, and demonstrate the impact of this model on the decarbonization of the cement and concrete sector, accounting for about 8% of global CO2 emissions.
Book and claim models decouple the environmental attributes from the product itself and help low-carbon materials producers access a customer base beyond their immediate geographic area. These models are used by various industries, such as electricity, aviation, and maritime shipping.
Microsoft’s use of contracting structures, such as purchasing the environmental benefits provided by Sublime Cement, will enable a speedy transition to decarbonized construction.
Microsoft and Sublime are developing their EAC transaction to be verifiable, additional, and catalytic. The MOU is part of Microsoft’s multi-prong 2024 strategy to forge partnerships to accelerate technology innovations for greener concrete and builds on the company’s history of book and claim agreements in sustainable aviation fuel and clean energy technologies.
Microsoft’s EAC purchases are anticipated to fasten the time to market for Sublime’s manufacturing technology and enhance the commercial viability of the company’s 1st and 2nd low-carbon cement plants. The agreement will focus the companies’ efforts on developing a suitable structure for Microsoft to purchase EACs from the commercial facility Sublime is developing in Holyoke, MA, which is expected to have a 30,000 TPY (throughput yield) production capacity and scheduled to be online by 2026.
The facility has been selected to receive an investment from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and will focus on increasing Sublime’s true-zero cement manufacturing technology, which avoids the two major emissions sources of cement production and does not require carbon capture or clean up.
