Lifecycle Carbon
Calera has the potential to reduce more than 100% of carbon dioxide emissions from the emitter.
Net emissions are calculated as the net capture of flue gas from the power plant (at least 70%), minus the emissions coming from the Calera process and the mining and transport of raw materials, plus the carbon dioxide avoided by the process:
1. Every ton of SCM or cement replacement produced by Calera avoids the release of approximately a ton of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted by the traditional manufacturing of Portland Cement (calcination).
A standard way of comparing the carbon dioxide footprint of different energy resources is to analyze their “carbon intensity” or their carbon dioxide emissions per each MWh they can generate.
According to the DOE, a normal U.S. Coal plant emits 0.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide per MWh, while a gas plants emits 0.6 metric tons per MWh. When the carbon displaced by avoiding the production of cement is considered, Calera’s process has a negative carbon intensity of -1.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide per MWh. That is, for each MWh produced, Calera removes about 1.2 metric tons from the environment.