Paving the Way to Zero CO2 Cement with Ryan Gilliam of Fortera

In this exciting kickoff to Season 4, Constructive Voices host Jackie De Burca sits down with one of TIME’s Top 100 Climate Leaders for 2024, Ryan Gilliam, CEO and Co-Founder of Fortera. Cement production, a cornerstone of modern infrastructure, is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions. Fortera is tackling this daunting challenge with groundbreaking technology that redefines the way cement is produced. “Concrete is what creates our civilization. It’s not about replacing it—it’s about finding ways to make it cleaner, greener, and better for the future.” – Ryan Gilliam Join us as Ryan shares his journey from academic beginnings in Materials Engineering to leading a company on a mission to decarbonise one of the world’s most energy-intensive industries. Learn how Fortera leverages nature-inspired processes to create innovative cement solutions, blending sustainability with economic feasibility. Key Highlights: The carbon footprint of cement production and Forterra’s innovative solutions. How Forterra captures CO2 emissions and re-engineers limestone into a reactive, sustainable form of cement. The challenges and triumphs of bringing green technologies to a risk-averse industry. Insights on building strategic partnerships, navigating global markets, and scaling sustainable technologies. Why Ryan believes collaboration, not competition, is key to solving the climate crisis. “There’s good reason to be optimistic. The interest from cement companies, architects, and investors shows that...

Om Podcasten

The Constructive Voices Podcast is all about inspiring change within the construction industry. Television builder, Peter Finn, is our man on the ground who injects his decades of construction experience with his unique sense of humour into the topics he covers. Then we have the gritty, investigative journalist, Henry McDonald, who spent over 25 years writing for The Guardian Newspaper in the UK. These days he does podcasts for us and the Sunday Times and is a freelance journalist for a number of top publications. Behind the scenes, we have Jackie De Burca, who is a creative director, author, media consultant, podcast creator and presenter. We focus on finding great stories within the construction industry about organisations and people who are doing something constructive. Topics include but are not limited to inclusivity, mental and physical health, investigating organisations that are ahead of the pack when it comes to sustainability, collaboration and team building, and initiatives that do social good. We also have our eyes and ears alert for cutting edge technologies and new updates on the industry’s economy and outlook.