Startup will manufacture ‘green’ cement (Atlanta)

A sustainable materials startup plans to develop a manufacturing plant that would make "green cement."

Marietta-based Sriya Green Materials Inc. has developed technology that it claims will slash the cost of manufacturing cement by about a third. Sriya claims its cement-making process can reduce capital equipment costs by up to 45 percent.

Sryia will initially build a $10 million pilot plant and could eventually build an up to $200 million commercial plant.

The technology also promises to cut carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process by nearly 30 percent, CEO Srinivas Kilambi said.

Cement-making plants are the world’s second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide — about 5 percent to 8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions are released by cement plants, Kilambi said.

“This technology will produce cement, using the same raw materials used today, in about 40 seconds, as opposed to 40 minutes,” he said. “It will take about half the energy.”

Sriya Group has raised $27 million, including $21 million from a blue chip venture firm based in Silicon Valley, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Demand for cement is rocketing worldwide, especially in Asia as China and India build roads, bridges and skyscrapers to keep pace with their burgeoning population growth.

Cement consumption is expected to grow 43 percent by 2030, reaching 5 billion metric tons, Sriya Green Materials noted on its website.

Read the full story in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.