Data Center Boom Drives Big Tech to Low-Carbon Concrete as Federal Support Retreats

Overview

• RMI estimates U.S. data center expansion through 2030 will require about 2 million tonnes of cement and could emit roughly 1.9 million tonnes of CO₂, equivalent to 415,000 gasoline cars per year.
• Microsoft signed a multi‑year deal enabling purchases of up to 622,500 metric tons of cement from Sublime Systems over six to nine years.
• Amazon is using low‑carbon concrete in Virginia and Oregon data centers, has invested in Brimstone and CarbonCure, and has implemented carbon‑intensity standards for concrete procurement.
• Amazon, Meta, and Prologis joined the Sustainable Concrete Buyers Alliance, organized by RMI and the Center for Green Market Activation, to send clear demand signals to producers.
• About $1.6 billion in expected Inflation Reduction Act support was withdrawn last year under the current administration, and Sublime laid off 10% of staff, lost $87 million in government funding, and suspended a planned Holyoke, Massachusetts plant.