The Economics of Green Concrete: Making the Business Case for Decarbonisation

Concrete is the most widely used building material on the planet. Its versatility, durability, and cost efficiency make it indispensable to modern infrastructure. Yet its key ingredient, cement, is incredibly carbon intensive. As global construction activity accelerates, cement production alone is estimated to account for nearly eight percent of global CO₂ emissions.

Over the past two decades, a wave of innovation has sought to confront this challenge head-on. Major multinationals operating across the value chain have committed significant resources to decarbonisation strategies, while new start-ups have emerged with novel ideas aimed at accelerating the transition.

However, any solution must preserve performance, comply with stringent codes and standards, integrate into existing plants and customer workflows, and scale to meet the sheer size of the industry. All of this must be achieved within a sector defined by tight margins, operational discipline, and (candidly) a degree of risk aversion. Against this backdrop, it is unsurprising that many initiatives fail to progress beyond the concept or pilot stage.

CarbonCure Technologies stands out as a compelling counterexample. It has emerged as one of the sector’s most commercially successful and scalable decarbonisation technologies not because it sought to disrupt concrete production, but because it was designed to work with it.

To explore how this has been achieved in practice, I spoke with Kristal Kaye, Interim CEO of CarbonCure and Brad Vickers, Vice President of Customer Success, about the economics of green concrete and what effective, scalable decarbonisation looks like in reality.

From Concept to Commercialisation

For many climate tech companies, the transition from idea to a real solution, with commercial potential, is an unassailable hurdle. In concrete, where consistency, reliability, and performance are non-negotiable, the bar is higher still.

The proposition from CarbonCure Technologies is grounded in a simple but powerful principle. Decarbonisation must integrate seamlessly into how concrete is already produced. As Kristal Kaye explains, “CarbonCure is a drop in solution that can be implemented in existing concrete plants. What it does is mineralise CO₂ within the concrete as it’s being produced.”

That technical simplicity is matched by a clear operational and economic value. For producers, the value is easy to understand. “The benefit that we bring to concrete producers is that it allows for cement operating cost savings, because they’ll use less cement in the process.”

Beyond cost reduction, CarbonCure was deliberately designed to embed an additional value stream. As Kristal notes, “We also offer a carbon revenue sharing programme. Any carbon credits that are generated from the use of our technology are shared back to producers, so there’s both cost savings and revenue generation.”

The company’s ability to move from concept to scale-up has been shaped by a series of pragmatic inflection points. A major technical breakthrough came with the transition from gaseous to liquid CO₂, enabling the system to evolve from a large, cumbersome setup into a compact, retrofit-ready solution compatible with existing ready-mix operations.

International expansion followed, supported by early flagship customers and strategic investment. Milestones, such as the launch of the carbon credit programme, winning the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, and surpassing ten million truckloads of carbon mineralized concrete, tell the story of successful scalability. As Brad Vickers reflects, “It took a long time to hit the first million truckloads, but a much shorter time to hit ten million. That really shows the scale and trajectory we’re on right now.”

CarbonCure’s progress reinforces a broader lesson for those seeking to replicate its success. Scale is only achievable through reliability, repeatability, and confidence earned over time.

Economics First: Why Cost Still Governs Adoption

Despite increasing climate pressure, concrete remains a commodity product in most markets. Procurement decisions are governed first and foremost by cost, and producers operate on consistently tight margins.

As Brad explains, “Concrete’s known as a razor thin margin industry, and anything that adds cost to operations is going to come with a lot of scrutiny.” From Kristal’s perspective, this economic reality is foundational. “It really comes down to the financial economics. We need our product to work financially for our producers, as well as for us.”

This focus has shaped CarbonCure’s entire value proposition. Rather than positioning decarbonisation as a premium or trade off, the company has worked to ensure that lower carbon concrete can be delivered without increasing cost. “The technology has to benefit both the customer using it and us as the technology provider. If the economics don’t work for the producer, it’s not going to scale.”

Brad reinforces this from the market facing side. “What separates CarbonCure from a lot of other solutions is that producers don’t have to compromise. They’re able to supply the same quality concrete at the same cost, with a lower carbon footprint.”

In a sector where sustainability initiatives are often viewed as cost centres, CarbonCure reframes decarbonisation as a commercial lever, unlocking adoption even where environmental arguments alone would fall short.

What Kind of Economic Questions & Challenges Arise Most?

Operational Integration: Where Most Technologies Fail

Even when the economics stack up, many technologies fail at the point of execution. Ready mix concrete is a time sensitive, high throughput business where even minor delays compound rapidly.

“Time is money in this industry, and we cannot add any additional time to the mixing process. Even seconds add up over time and eat into revenue,” Brad notes.

Kristal echoes this, emphasising that minimising disruption has been central to CarbonCure’s design philosophy. “It’s really about not disrupting their business. If you add extra work or change how they do things, they’re not going to be willing to adopt it.”

Quality control represents a second barrier, particularly where cement reduction is involved. “As soon as QC hears we’re going to reduce cement content, they see that as risk. We’re eating into the safety factor that allows them to sleep at night.”

CarbonCure addresses these concerns through close, hands-on engagement during early adoption, combined with a business model built around seamless integration and low friction deployment. “The first three months after a new contract is signed are critical. That’s when we build relationships and prove we’re not impacting operations or product quality.”

In concrete, operational credibility is earned at the plant and on site. Once established, it becomes a powerful catalyst for wider adoption.

Data, Verification, and the New Basis of Trust

Expectations around data transparency and carbon accounting are evolving rapidly across the construction value chain. As Brad reflects, “When I joined this industry, the idea of sharing batching data was unheard of. Everyone thought they had a secret recipe.”

That mindset is changing, driven by Environmental Product Declarations and verified carbon accounting. “An EPD shows the life cycle assessment of a material, and what really matters is global warming potential, how much carbon is released per unit.”

Kristal highlights the importance of credibility in this new environment. “In order to increase the integrity of our product and the carbon credits we generate, we moved into third party validation and verification.” Brad reinforces, “We’re not self certifying these credits and asking people to trust us. We go through a very rigorous third party verification process.”

As transparency becomes embedded in procurement practices and regulation, data is no longer simply a compliance requirement. Within concrete, it is becoming a source of competitive advantage.

What Stands Out as the Key Developments & Achievements that have shaped CarbonCure?

Industry Momentum and the Path Forward

Momentum toward lower carbon concrete is building, particularly across large scale developments such as data centres and major infrastructure. However, barriers remain, most notably cost sensitivity and the late stage involvement of producers in project design.

Kristal Kaye sees both challenge and opportunity ahead. “There is significant construction still to happen in the future, and there’s no way around using concrete. The key is shifting toward greener products.”

Brad reinforces that decarbonisation will not be delivered through a single technology. “It’s not an ‘or’ situation. You can use SCMs, you can use other admixtures, and you can use CarbonCure. We can stack all of these solutions together.”

The experience of CarbonCure Technologies’ in scaling their solution offers growth insight into the broader truth for hard to abate sectors. Meaningful decarbonisation depends on stacking practical solutions that align with economics, integrate into existing operations, and are trusted by producers. Crucially, they must also be capable of operating at scale.

In closing, both Kristal and Brad were unequivocal that progress will not be achieved through ambition alone, but through disciplined execution. “The technologies exist today,” Kristal observed, “but progress depends on aligning incentives, proving commercial value, and meeting producers where they are operationally.” Brad echoed this sentiment, emphasising that “solutions only scale when they integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and deliver measurable returns.”

Their advice to innovators and operators alike is clear. Focus relentlessly on economics. Earn trust through real world deployment. Build partnerships that respect operational reality.

Decarbonising concrete will not be solved by a single breakthrough moment, but by thousands of practical decisions made every day across plants, projects, and supply chains. Conversations like this help illuminate what works, and why.

With sincere thanks to Kristal Kaye and Brad Vickers for their candour, insight, and leadership in moving the industry forward.

If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised in this piece, or if you need support with your leadership resourcing strategy, please get in touch with Cobi Busst on: cobi.busst@beaumontbailey.com.