Episode Summary
Executive Summary: Jason Jacobs interviews Chris Stern, CEO/co-founder of CarbiCrete, a Montreal startup turning steel slag and CO2 into cement-free concrete products. The conversation covers the company’s lab-origin story, technical differentiation, licensing business model, grant-heavy financing, and the policy/market forces that could accelerate adoption of low-carbon building materials.
Main Topics: CarbiCrete’s core technology (Priority: 5/5): CarbiCrete replaces cement with steel slag and cures concrete products by reacting them with CO2, creating carbon-negative masonry units such as blocks and pavers. Origin story and lab-to-market journey (Priority: 5/5): Chris Stern explains how the company emerged from McGill research, discovered through tech transfer after his solar startup exit, and evolved from a science project into a commercial business. Hard-to-abate cement and concrete emissions (Priority: 5/5): The discussion frames cement as a major emissions source that is extremely difficult to decarbonize because the chemistry itself releases CO2, making alternative materials and CO2 utilization attractive. Business model and defensibility (Priority: 4/5): CarbiCrete licenses technology to masonry producers rather than building its own plants, relying on IP, process know-how, and access to steel slag supply as key moats. Capital strategy and Canadian funding support (Priority: 4/5): Stern describes a financing mix dominated by grants, plus debt and limited equity, and points to Canada’s supportive public funding ecosystem for climate scale-up companies. Carbon credits, policy, and market pull (Priority: 4/5): The company is designed to work without carbon credits, but policy like carbon pricing and low-carbon procurement could improve economics and speed adoption; demand is already coming from architects, EPCs, and customers. Scaling the next phase (Priority: 3/5): Near-term priorities include building a cluster around a steel plant, installing grinding capacity, onboarding customers, and potentially integrating modular direct air capture in future systems.
Key Arguments: Cement is a major climate problem because its production chemistry inherently emits CO2, making direct decarbonization difficult. CarbiCrete’s approach is simpler and more scalable than trying to reinvent cement: use an existing waste stream (steel slag) as the binder and cure it with CO2. The technology creates value from multiple directions at once: diverts industrial waste, replaces cement, and permanently stores CO2 in a useful product. The business is designed to be economic even without carbon credits, which makes it more resilient to policy changes. Licensing to existing masonry producers is more capital efficient than building new plants from scratch. Supply of steel slag is a strategic advantage and part of the moat; the company chose an investor with global slag-handling access for that reason. Carbon markets and policy will likely accelerate adoption, but customer pull from architects, EPCs, and developers is already meaningful. Modular direct air capture could pair well with CarbiCrete because each site needs only a relatively small amount of CO2 compared with large-scale DAC systems.
Data Points: Membership community size: More than 1,300 members - Jason’s intro to MCJ membership Steel slag generated annually: 250 million tons per year - Global byproduct from steelmaking used by CarbiCrete Cement’s share of global emissions: 8% to 10% - Chris describing the climate impact of cement Annual cement-related emissions: About 2 gigatons per year - Emissions associated with cement production Pure Energies growth: 4 people to 200 people in about 4 years - Chris’s first startup scaling story Pure Energies exit year: 2014 - Company sold to NRG Energy Year Chris began learning about cement emissions and the McGill tech: 2015 - Start of engagement with McGill tech transfer Carbon XPRIZE outcome: Reached the finals - CarbiCrete’s early competition milestone Team size: 22 people - Current CarbiCrete team Facility size: 10,000 square feet - Montreal-area R&D and product facility Pilot site distance from Montreal: About an hour away - Pilot at Patio Drummond masonry plant Steel sites served by Harsco: 140 steel sites worldwide - Strategic investor and slag supply partner Funding mix: Roughly half grants, one quarter debt, one quarter equity - Stern on cumulative capital raised Total capital raised: Eight digits - Approximate total funding to date Carbon price in Canada: Up to $170/ton by 2030 - Policy tailwind cited by Stern CO2 needs per site: 5,000 to 10,000 tons per year - Desired scale for co-located CO2 supply/DAC Industry age: About 2,500 years - Reference to the long-standing nature of concrete/masonry
Pivotal Quotes: "If it sounds good, and if when you talk, tell people and the reaction is always, well, that sounds like a great idea. Well, it probably is." — Chris Stern: On evaluating the opportunity to commercialize the McGill invention "We designed the business to not rely on carbon credits. So, the economics work such that you don't need the carbon credits, but the carbon credits are a bonus." — Chris Stern: On CarbiCrete’s business model and revenue resilience "There should be a universal carbon tax." — Chris Stern: On the policy change he believes would most help climate solutions scale
Implications: CarbiCrete shows how climate hard-tech can scale by pairing waste streams, CO2 utilization, and asset-light licensing. If policy and procurement keep strengthening, low-carbon concrete could move from niche pilot to mainstream building material.