Terra CO2 Enters Permitting Stage for High-Performance Cement Extender Plant in Texas, Creating a Near-Term Solution for Increased Production and Carbon Reduction

Terra's OPUS SCM can increase current cement plant production by up to 50% in Texas while reducing the overall cost of ready-mix concrete

Golden, Colorado, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terra CO2, the standard for concrete decarbonization, today announced that it has entered the permitting stage for its first commercial plant in Texas. The groundbreaking is expected in late 2024 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The plant will produce Terra's OPUS SCMTM (supplementary cementitious material), a high-performance cement extender expected to displace 40-50% of Portland cement (the most common type of cement) when blended. 

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As the construction industry faces increasing regulatory pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, Terra's OPUS SCM offers a solution that addresses environmental concerns and broader industry needs. OPUS SCM enables the cement producer to increase capacity to meet the growing cement market demand while reducing their overall emissions, contributing to a more sustainable future for the industry.

“There are many well-positioned cement plants across North America that have been filling the needs for basic infrastructure for decades," said Chance Allen, Terra CO2's Chief Operating Officer. "Terra’s OPUS SCM can greatly extend these existing plants' capacity while reducing direct costs. This is especially true in Texas, where infrastructure, residential development, and mega projects are all dependent on these limited sources of material."

Terra's OPUS SCM offers various benefits for cement producers and ready-mix concrete (RMC) producers. Terra's solution extends the life and enhances the ROI of established cement plants while meeting the growing demand for cement. Existing cement plants that blend OPUS SCM can increase capacity by up to 50%, while RMC plants in Dallas-Fort Worth that use OPUS SCM in concrete at high substitution levels can reduce concrete's carbon footprint and cost. 

Over the past six months, Terra has been conducting extensive research and development at its concrete materials lab, validating concrete mix designs with OPUS SCM at 50% substitution levels for this first plant in Texas. The Texas Advanced Processing Facility will produce OPUS SCM at pricing competitive with typical coal-derived SCMs.

"Our OPUS SCM process provides high-performance, high-replacement SCM in Texas by unlocking an abundant category of clay materials widely available in the state," explains DJ Lake, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Terra CO2. "OPUS SCM produces a much lower CO2 and air quality impact than Portland cement production. By replacing up to half of your usual cement with OPUS SCM, you can extend the existing Portland cement supply as far as possible and reduce the environmental impact of each yard of concrete."

OPUS' proprietary vitrification process activates various clays and shales, yielding exceptionally high substitution levels without the performance challenges associated with calcined clays, such as high water demand. Unlike calcined clay projects that often require new mines, Terra's technology can work with a broader range of local clay and shale mineralogy from existing sources, making it highly scalable in most markets and avoiding the expense and risk of opening new mines.

"Our replacement level and performance in Texas is state-of-the-art, at least as good as LC3, and with a mixed clay feedstock," added Lake. "This is thanks to our unique vitrification process that activates a wide variety of overlooked mineral resources, including crystalline silicate rocks like granites and basalts; we use a similar amount of energy as calcination to turn these rocks into useful microspherical pozzolan."

Terra is collaborating with industry leaders in construction materials companies in other states to sync its technology with local aggregate feedstocks, aiming to deliver the same 40-50% substitution level in as many locations as possible. As the industry seeks solutions to reduce cement's carbon footprint and meet its growing market demand, cost-competitive cement extenders like OPUS SCM provide an attractive transition for the industry. 

In the last year, Terra further validated its OPUS SCM with concrete used in the construction of a Porsche dealership in the Houston area. Terra is currently testing OPUS ZEROTM, a complete cement replacement that can reduce greenhouse emissions related to concrete production to zero. 

To learn more about Terra and its OPUS product suite, please visit https://terraco2.com/

About Terra CO2

Terra is the standard for cement decarbonization. We enable our partners to unlock real zero cement from source to deployment.

As the critical component in creating concrete, the foundation of modern infrastructure, cement is responsible for 8% of the world's CO2 emissions. The CO2 and NO2 emissions associated with cement make finding an alternative to current solutions a climate imperative.

Unique to Terra CO2 is their capability to work across a diverse range of silicate rock mineralogy, not constrained by feedstock availability. Terra's technology allows the company to create sustainable construction materials with the most abundant and accessible raw materials on earth from already approved and open mines.

Terra's first product, OPUS SCM (Supplementary Cementitious Material), is ready for commercial deployment, capable of replacing up to 50% OPC (Original Portland Cement) and solving the industry's carbon emissions and dwindling feedstock challenges. Terra's OPUS ZERO™, a complete, real zero cement alternative, is in full concrete trials. Both leverage Terra's "drop-in" reactor solution, which seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure and sets the foundation for the transition to real zero cement.

Validated by third parties, Terra's materials perform equal to or better than traditional cementitious products.

Terra CO2 is headquartered in Golden, Colorado, and is led by a team of industry experts. For more information, please visit: https://terraco2.com/