SCM-driven Queens Carbon lands $14.5M DOE grant, seeks cement partner

Sources: Queens Carbon, Pine Brook, N.J.; CP staff

The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded Queens Carbon $14.5 million to help fund a pilot supplementary cementitious materials facility engineered for 10 metric tons/day output and built at an existing portland cement operation. The startup company applies hydrothermal technology to produce Q-SCM binder, milled from carbonate mineral feedstocks at nearly half the 1,450°C level required for portland cement clinker. Lower temperature processing holds the potential for deploying renewable energy sources to mill Q-SCM, which Queens Carbon envisions as enabling portland cement replacement at 20-50 percent levels in concrete mix designs. Beyond the temperature factor, the hydrothermal process allows for full capture of carbon dioxide released during carbonate mineral transformation.

“Through SCALEUP, Queens Carbon will build on prior work funded by ARPA-E and develop an integrated facility at an existing cement production site to produce carbon-neutral materials in support of decarbonizing cement production,” says ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang. SCALEUP supports the scaling of disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy and industrial applications, she notes, ensuring that strategic U.S. innovations are well-positioned for commercial deployment and investment from the private sector.

“The SCALEUP grant is a tremendous step forward on our path to commercialization,” affirms Queens Carbon CEO Daniel Kopp. “Partnering with ARPA-E and a major cement industry player to deploy, operate, and optimize our pilot plant will put us on an accelerated path to gigatonne-scale CO₂ reductions.” The Q-SCM project was selected by ARPA-E from a highly competitive pool of industry applicants, he adds.

Queens Carbon is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures of Redmond, Wash., whose other investments include Brimstone, Rondo Energy, Solidia Technologies and Terra CO2 Technology Holdings—each targeting materials or processes lowering the carbon dioxide emissions attending finished concrete.