New Jersey legislators on Thursday passed a bill requiring builders to offer low-carbon concrete as an option and creating tax incentives for companies that purchase it.

The legislation (S3091), which now sits on the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy (D), encourages the use of concrete that is created under controlled conditions — known as unit concrete — and is certified as “generating at least 50% less carbon dioxide emissions” in its production. Unlike regular concrete, which is delivered wet to the construction site and dries on the job, unit concrete is pre-fabricated and is delivered in ready-to-use form to the construction site, often in the form of pavers or concrete blocks.

The state’s Democratic-controlled Assembly passed the bill 57-13, with no debate, following a 24-11 vote by the state Senate, also controlled by Democrats, in March.

Murphy has pledged to reduce the effects of climate change and put the state on track to use 100% clean energy by 2050. The bill addresses what some analysts see as a key generator of greenhouse gases, and one that is important to any effort to cut greenhouse gases, due to its prevalence in daily life.

A May 2020 report by consultant McKinsey and Co. concluded that the cement industry is responsible for about a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions by industry worldwide, and 7% of all emissions globally.  In a sign of the industry’s shift, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) in September released a statement pledging to reduce the carbon-dioxide footprint of what it called “the world’s most used man-made product” and create carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.

Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego (D), who sponsored the bill, told the Senate Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee in December that carbon emissions from concrete emissions are so large that if the concrete manufacturing industry were a country, it would be “the third largest global producer of carbon dioxide, trailing only the United States and China.”

Still, she said, “we are incentivizing and encouraging, not mandating” the use of low-carbon concrete through the bill.

Promoting A Low Carbon Product

The bill would:

• • • Require any builder of a new project using unit concrete to provide the option for low-carbon concrete, if it is “technically feasible.” The requirement would apply to any residential or commercial building, except for the construction of certain condominiums, attached single-family townhouses and row houses
    • Requires the builder to state the cost and environmental benefits of the low-carbon concrete products
    • Make the purchase of carbon-reduced concrete exempt from state sales tax.
    • Make developers or property owners that purchase and install carbon-reduced concrete products eligible for a tax credit equal to $2 per square foot of qualified unit concrete products purchased and installed, up to $3,000 for a residential property and $30,000 for a commercial property.
    • Require that if a state or local government agency is executing a project that involves the use of unit concrete then it should use low-carbon concrete wherever “technically feasible”
    • Require the state Commissioner of Environmental Protection to establish a process for certifying whether the production of unit concrete product generates least 50% less carbon dioxide emissions  than unit concrete product made with ordinary Portland cement.

Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D), who backed the bill Thursday, said providing an incentive is key in the early stages of a technological advance, to get beyond the “early adopters” and attract the interest of more mainstream users. A separate bill sponsored by Zwicker would provide incentives for companies doing state contracts with low-carbon concrete of any kind, to close the gap between the higher cost environmentally friendly concrete and lower cost regular concrete.

New, Unfamiliar Concrete

The bill drew a mixed reaction from stakeholders. The New Jersey Builders Association, which represents residential and commercial builders and developers, said it generally supports the use of carbon-reducing strategies, but believes the bill still needed refinement.

“Although well intentioned, the bill lacks the proper mechanics that would streamline the use of carbon reducing products,” Kyle Holder, director of legislative affairs, said in an interview. “It requires builders to utilize new products that they are unfamiliar with and have no experience with.”

“For instance, builders would be compelled to offer carbon reducing concrete products in structural components of a home, which may create safety concerns and potential issues with new home warranties,’ Holder said. He added that the association believes the bill should cover only “horizontal projects such as driveways, and not building construction, and should include some “lead time so builders can confidentially determine how the products in question react and work with other components of the home.”

The Illinois-based Portland Cement Association, however, backed the bill, saying that “we feel that procurement is a key driver in providing the demand for our products that will allow us to continue to drive down our already low-carbon footprint.”

Spokesman Nick Ferrari said the use of low-carbon concrete is at a “tipping point,” and the “biggest obstacle to their adoption isn’t supply, it’s awareness.”

Cutting Production Temperature

Carbon dioxide is produced in the process of creating concrete, which involves burning limestone in kilns at 2,300 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, usually with coal or natural gas, according to the Zero Energy Project, a non-profit organization that aims to educate people about building materials. The chemical reaction involved in making cement also releases CO2 as a byproduct; the production of one ton of Portland cement creates a ton of carbon emissions, the organization’s website said.

Cutting carbon is difficult, however. A report issued by the California Nevada Cement Association in March concluded that because the release of carbon dioxide is “immutable” during the chemical reaction in the cement manufacturing process, the industry would require carbon capture and storage, and expensive technology, to reach carbon neutrality. (See: Challenges Loom for Decarbonizing Concrete).

Solidia Technologies, a Piscataway, N.J.-based producer of low-carbon concrete, welcomed the legislation. Devin Patten, director of technology deployment for the company, urged the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee to approve the bill in January, saying  it “incentivizes demonstrable and substantial reduction in materials carbon footprint.”

Patten told the committee that his company’s products cut carbon emissions both in the production of the concrete, and “the consumption of CO2 to cure the concrete, permanently sequestering it inside the product.”

“Through this, the net effect is up to 70% reduction in the carbon footprint compared to regular Portland cement,” he said.

Solidia Technologies, which announced a $78 million funding round in April, says it has developed a technique with Rutgers University and others that enables manufacturers to produce cement in their existing kilns at lower temperatures than normal. The process also uses less limestone, and as a result the process saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30%, the company says.

The company’s “concrete curing technology permanently and safely consumes up to 240 kg of CO2, leaving 3-5% of the finished precast product weight as solid CO2,” the company says.

The New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club did not back the bill. Megan Steele, the organization’s communications coordinator, said in an interview that the legislation could “end up incentivizing the movement of the cement industry into managing waste for other high-carbon coal-dependent industries,” and enabling the use of high-polluting fuels such as incinerating municipal waste. By promoting low-carbon concrete, the bill could also end up boosting the transportation and extraction of cement, which also are high polluting sectors, Steele said.