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Sublime Systems Awarded Contract with U.S. Department of Energy for Next-Generation, Clean Cement Manufacturing Plant in Holyoke, Mass.

By: Sublime Systems via Business Wire

December 03, 2024 at 08:00 AM EST

Sublime will draw on its up-to $87 million award from the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) to begin essential design and planning activities for its cement factory

Cement technology innovator Sublime Systems has completed award negotiations with the U.S. Department of Energy for an up-to $87 million award for its next-generation, clean cement manufacturing plant in Holyoke, Mass. Sublime will now commence site engineering and design, site characterization, and permitting, and continue its engagement with the Holyoke community focused on training and workforce development for the good-paying job opportunities Sublime’s plant will provide.

Sublime's Holyoke plant was one of 33 projects selected to be awarded a collective $6 billion from OCED’s Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP), which aims to provide American manufacturers a competitive advantage in the race to lead the world in next-generation, clean industrial manufacturing. Sublime's Holyoke factory will successfully demonstrate full-scale operations of its breakthrough, pollution-avoiding process for manufacturing cement. Due to an ancient production method that decomposes limestone feedstock in fossil-fueled kilns, today’s ordinary portland cement manufacturing (OPC) contributes to 8% of global CO₂ emissions and further releases harmful pollutants spanning nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), mercury, and particulates. Sublime’s core electrochemical process fully avoids this pollution while producing cement that forms that same hardened concrete the world relies on.

Sublime Systems CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Leah Ellis stated, “Sublime is developing the clean cement manufacturing technology of the future. As we scale up our domestic production with the DOE’s support, we'll work simultaneously to export this innovation around the globe and continue America’s long tradition of inventing essential technologies for the world. This completed award negotiation follows an extensive diligence process that vetted the transformative nature of Sublime’s technology, product, and ability to scale globally.”

Sublime expects to create 70-90 jobs across all skill and education levels once its plant is operational in Holyoke, a former industrial town that was once known as the Paper City of the World. Through its scale-up, Sublime aspires to simultaneously provide quality economic opportunity to Americans of all education levels, while onshoring manufacturing of an essential good. The U.S. currently imports about 20% of the cement it consumes, and increased clean domestic production will be critical in strengthening American supply chains and boosting competitiveness.

The proliferation of affordable, clean energy enables a second Industrial Revolution that the United States is best positioned to lead through private-sector-led, public-sector-enabled innovation. Following the investment from OCED earlier this year, Sublime secured partnerships with global building materials leaders Holcim and CRH focused on development of future full-scale manufacturing plants that pair the cement majors’ infrastructure with Sublime’s breakthrough process. Sublime’s technology was invented at MIT, commercialized with the support of ARPA-E, and has since earned a DOE Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) grant to accelerate its ability to ingest industrial wastes as cement feedstocks. To highlight the role of such catalytic capital in furthering new manufacturing innovations, Sublime CEO Dr. Leah Ellis is speaking at the DOE’s Deploy24 conference on December 4^th with leaders from the agency and OCED.

Sublime Systems

Sublime Systems is leading a swift and massive transition to a clean cement manufacturing future. Sublime’s breakthrough electrochemical process avoids the pollution caused by ordinary portland cement’s use of fossil-fueled kilns and limestone feedstock. Sublime instead extracts reactive calcium and silicates from abundant raw materials at ambient temperature, to make ASTM C1157-compliant Sublime Cement™, a 1:1 replacement for OPC in concrete. Because it does not require carbon capture, Sublime’s technology offers a clear path for cost-competitive clean cement manufacturing at scale. Sublime was founded at MIT by Dr. Leah Ellis and Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, both respected experts in materials science, electrochemical systems, and sustainability research. The company has raised over $200M in funding from leading tech investors, global cement majors, and cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, IEDO, and OCED award programs. It currently operates a Somerville, MA-based pilot plant with a >250 TPY nameplate production capacity and is developing its 30,000 TPY first commercial facility in Holyoke, MA. Learn more at sublime-systems.com or contact partnerships@sublime-systems.com to inquire about working together.