Infrastructure is evolving and in the next several weeks, the construction industry will want to keep a close eye on the latest trends that will impact the building infrastructure. Last week was WOC (World of Concrete) and there was no shortage of announcements aimed at the infrastructure space. With the flurry of news coming from the show floor, it certainly makes sense to look at well, concrete.
The material itself continues to advance in many ways to address decarbonization. As outlined in the World Cement Assn., most recent whitepaper, global demand for cement and clinker is projected to decline sharply by 2050.
However, the sector remains one of the largest industrial emitters of CO₂, and the scale of emissions from remaining production necessitates the swift adoption of technologies like CCS (carbon capture and storage), greater use of alternative fuels, and adoption of low-carbon binders for concrete, according to Ian Riley, CEO of the World Cement Assn.
Looking beyond the sustainability conversation for a moment, we also see an even greater effort toward advances in innovative technologies that necessitate the drive for reducing overall costs and expediting production efforts—much of what was pitched during the WOC event at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. However, perhaps what is still in even greater demand is industry collaboration and emerging innovation.
These collaboration and innovation efforts will make all the difference. In fact, the collaboration and innovation in one recent announcement proves the point. Take for instance, the Cemex announcement on January 20, in which the U.S. DOE (Dept. of Energy’s) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has selected a project for funding to develop a carbon capture, removal, and conversion test center at its cement plant in Knoxville, Tenn. It is one of five selected to share a $101 million to build test centers for cement plants and power facilities. This is one of many unique opportunities that are truly endless for innovation.
Consider this critical collaboration point hard at work. UIUC (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Cemex, and a coalition of U.S. cement producers are beginning phase one, which includes designs for the center. Phase two will include building and operating the carbon capture, removal, and conversion test center. Ultimately, this will be a test bed for research that will help decarbonize the cement industry. There is no secret the cement industry recognizes it is long overdue is finding new materials to advance to a build a better tomorrow.
While these are just a few examples, much research is being done around cement. While the materials themselves are changing, so too are the technologies surrounding how we design, build, and maintain infrastructure.
We are curious here at Constructech, what did you see at World of Concrete 2025 that stood out to you? How did technologies take center stage at the event? Was there talk of a Golden Age on the show floor? What new materials and innovations inspire you? We have big opportunities to build back stronger and restore our infrastructure, but as always, we must carefully consider the steps we will take to do so with our infrastructure.
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