States will receive $1.2 billion to build roads and highways with…

Still, Kwon said the federal awards could, in many ways, help lay the foundation for nationwide Buy Clean efforts.

Public bodies must begin collecting emissions and environmental data on the companies and facilities that supply construction materials. States also need to work closely with contractors and local businesses to share information about carbon reduction and novel technologies — something that a small concrete supplier, for example, may not be readily familiar with or know how to use.

Such moves will allow authorities to ultimately issue regulations or set maximum emission limits for cement, steel or glass purchased for public construction projects. To this end, federal grants can also be used to compensate agencies or provide incentives for the purchase of road materials ​““significantly lower values” of embodied CO2 emissions compared to estimated industry averages, it says FHWA.

“For the states receiving these additional funds, it is not as if they are unaware of the climate impacts of the materials,” Kwon said. ​“The big opportunity here is to give those agencies the opportunity to do more but haven’t received the appropriate government funding so that they can really get a piece of the apple.” It could also push states to do so ​““Think holistically” and consider whether things like highway expansions or parking spaces are really necessary given the emissions involved, he added.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), in turn, says it plans to use it FHWA Grant to launch a pilot program to measure and track the carbon footprint of its transportation projects. The agency will also set sustainability benchmarks for highway construction contracts that use concrete and asphalt.

“This will allow us to increase the use of low-carbon materials and improve the sustainability of our transportation system without compromising performance,” WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman said in a news release.

Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) should receive $27 Millions to develop a research program with industry leaders and academic partners that includes the use of cleaner concrete and asphalt mixes. The agency will also set up a technology platform for environmental product declarations – similar to a climate ​““Nutrition labeling” for individual products – which contractors can access.

Doug Nintzel, a spokesman for ADOTsaid the initial steps will allow the agency to identify candidate projects for the use of low-carbon materials and will work with road construction operators and contractors to analyze the pollution reductions, energy efficiency and quality of life benefits associated with these projects. ADOT operates a $8 Billion-dollar, five-year construction program for improvement and expansion projects in almost all parts of the world 7,000 Miles of state highways.

This kind of work ​““Without the grant, this would not have been possible,” he said via email.

If these efforts continue during the next Trump administration, the timing would be good for companies looking to bring new facilities online, like Ecocem. The grants could also be linked to other federal initiatives such as the Department of Energy’s Industrial Demonstrations Program – an initiative that, like the FHWA Grants are at risk of being cut under Trump.

The $6 The multibillion-dollar demonstration program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill, aims to transform the nation’s heavy industrial sectors. Earlier this year, six cement projects were selected to receive up to $1.5 Multibillion-dollar awards to demonstrate everything from carbon capture systems to alternative cement chemicals.

Sublime Systems, for example, is expected to reach almost $1.5087 million dollars to build its first commercial-scale facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The WITH Spinout has developed an electrochemical process for producing cement that neither releases carbon nor requires red-hot ovens. Last month, Sublime reached the first phase of its project and received $12.8 Millions of his federal award for the first project planning in the state – which, by the way, is almost $32 million FHWA grant.

Kwon said government-backed projects like Sublime’s will ideally produce innovative materials when state transportation agencies are willing to buy more of them, allowing public investment to boost both supply and demand in a way that allows the private market to take off .

“If the programs endure, it is headed for a very bright future,” he said.