WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) today introduced the Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act of 2023 to accelerate deployment of low-emissions concrete and asphalt. The bill would direct federal resources to encourage research, development, demonstration, and commercialization of low-emission concrete and asphalt technologies while also setting a strategic plan for government agency coordination.
Concrete is the second-most used material on earth after water and is by far the world’s most used building material. Globally, 18 billion tons of concrete are produced each year, accounting for 8% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Innovating low-emissions concrete and asphalt creates major opportunities for decarbonization and advancing American competitiveness.
“Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions it takes to produce the world’s most plentiful building material will combat climate change while promoting American leadership in manufacturing,” said Senator Coons. “As COP28 unfolds, I’m proud to introduce this new legislation with Senator Tillis that will create jobs and help us meet our climate goals.”
“I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Senator Coons to advance concrete and asphalt innovation, strengthen America’s global competitiveness, and support job creation,” said Senator Tillis. “This bill would accelerate industrial innovation to bring new technologies to market and establish a strategic road map for the U.S. to lead the way on the path to lowering concrete and asphalt emissions.”
The Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act of 2023 would:
“Demand for lower emissions products is increasing across the globe, and the United States needs continued innovation to keep pace and ensure we are researching and deploying cutting-edge, innovative technologies to maintain a competitive advantage,” said Rich Powell, CEO of ClearPath Action.“The Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act will accelerate industrial innovation and enable the United States to remain the global leader in industrial manufacturing while also lowering global emissions, creating jobs, and producing affordable products. We appreciate Senators Tillis and Coons’ bipartisan leadership to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and to lower emissions in the industrial sector by providing direction at the Department of Energy for the first dedicated RD&D program to decarbonize concrete and asphalt.”
“Tackling emissions from the industrial sector, including from concrete, cement, and asphalt, is critical to achieving U.S. climate goals while improving air quality and creating good jobs,” said Evan Chapman, U.S. Federal Policy Director at Clean Air Task Force. “Fortunately, we have tools at our disposal, like carbon capture and storage, that we can deploy to drastically reduce emissions from these hard-to-abate sectors. This legislation would also support research, development, and demonstration of additional innovative technologies, which could avoid these emissions altogether and provide policies to incentivize the use of low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt. Clean Air Task Force applauds Senators Coons and Tillis for their leadership. This bill is an important step forward to decarbonizing the industrial sector.”
“The Portland Cement Association (PCA), which represents the majority of America’s cement manufacturers, welcomes the introduction of Senators Coons and Tillis’ Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act and its intended goals of advancing industrial decarbonization in the cement, concrete, and asphalt sectors,”said Sean O’Neill, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the Portland Cement Association. “The Concrete and Asphalt Innovation Act would accelerate additional research, development, and demonstration for cement through an increased partnership with the federal government. This proposed legislation is a critical step as PCA looks to scale the technologies necessary for our industry to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. PCA will continue to ensure the best interest of our members is represented and their decarbonization efforts are supported now and in the future. We look forward to continuing to work with the Senators on this legislation and similar efforts.”
The introduction of the bill comes during COP28, the annual global conference to coordinate international efforts to combat climate change hosted by the U.N. Framework on Climate Change. Congressional delegations will leave for COP28 today.
As Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, Senator Coons is a leader in bipartisan climate legislation. He previously introduced the bipartisan Hydrogen Infrastructure Initiative alongside Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), a package of four bills to support the adoption of hydrogen in energy-intensive sectors. He also introduced the PROVE IT Act alongside Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) to study global emissions intensity.
The full bill text is available here.
A one-pager and section-by-section is here.
A full list of supportive quotes is here.