• Novacem

  Participated · Equity · Jan 2011

  Novacem develops a new generation of carbon-negative cement based on magnesium oxide produced from magnesium silicates. The product is designed to offer cost and performance parity with Portland cement and to be scalable as an alternative to conventional, carbon-intensive cement production. Novacem is a spin-out from Imperial College London and is based in London, UK. The company recently closed a Green Cement Bond with Lafarge, which was the bond's first subscription. It received a £1.5m investment from a syndicate including Laing O’Rourke, London Technology Fund, Imperial Innovations and the Royal Society Enterprise Fund, bringing total funding to more than £2.5m. Management says the follow-on funding will support continued technology development and work with partners to achieve commercialization. Novacem is a spin-out from Imperial Innovations Group plc developing a cement that absorbs more CO2 over its life cycle than it emits. The company estimates that replacing one tonne of ordinary Portland cement with its product could capture and store about 0.75 tonnes of CO2 indefinitely in construction products. The article frames this technology against global cement production of over 2.5 billion tonnes, which currently accounts for roughly 5% of CO2 emissions, with volumes expected to double by 2050. Novacem aims to commercialize the technology and scale deployment to reduce sector emissions. The company plans to grow its team and complete an initial pilot plant before the end of 2009. Management says the new funding will accelerate development and commercialisation.

No current team members are available.