Page 69 - 2023 Sustainability Report
P. 69

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP



        Leadership positions in industry and advocacy           of constructing a pilot carbon capture plant to determine
        associations that support actions to control            the feasibility of this technology at other locations
        climate change                                        • Supporting for the MIT Sustainability Hub, which
        • Participating in working groups at both the PCA and   conducts research supporting the beneficial use of low-
          NRMCA to evaluate the feasibility and/or opportunity  carbon footprint concrete and brings together leaders
          associated with PCA’s 2050 “Net Zero Roadmap”, along  from academia, industry and government to develop a
          with other developments relevant to commercial-scale  holistic approach that will achieve durable and
          CCS technologies that we anticipate being considered by  sustainable homes, buildings and infrastructure in ever
          the industry in the coming years                      more demanding environments

        • Maintaining our agreement with Fortera at our former
          Redding California cement plant where it is in the process



        Net Zero 2050 Ambition


        At Martin Marietta we recognize the importance of continuing to set goals for sustainability and to increase transparency
        around GHG emissions reporting. We also believe that establishing firm targets requires an achievable plan to meet those
        targets in order to provide investors with meaningful disclosure. Accordingly, in last year’s report we set forth for the first
        time our ambition that both our Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2e emissions across all business lines will be Net Zero by 2050.

        In our engagement with many of our investors, we have heard that some of our competitors, particularly in the cement
        sector, have made firm Net Zero commitments. Many of these global cement companies making such commitments are
        relying upon levers to reduce their carbon footprint which are either not currently allowed in the United States or which
        depend largely upon technologies that have yet to be proven or developed to a commercial scale. To meet our Net Zero
        ambition, we will need to see progress in the following areas.

        As discussed in “Clinker Substitution and Blending” at page 62 above, clinker factor in cement dramatically affects its
        GHG intensity. While clinker substitution rates of 28 to 50 percent are common outside the U.S., that level of blended
        cement is not allowable in the U.S. for most highway and infrastructure work which makes up the bulk of our product
        mix. While the global cement companies rely upon reductions in clinker factor to levels below 70% to achieve their 2030
        and 2050 targets, this is not currently available to us and thus a reduction in intensity significantly greater than our
        current targets is not technically possible. To achieve our ambition to be Net Zero by 2050, both ASTM and the various
        Federal and State Departments of Transportation will need to accept additional blended cements. The PCA continues to
        advocate and provide research in this regard.


        Similarly, as discussed in “Alternative Fuel Use” at page 62, global cement players are taking advantage of incentives
        for alternate fuels and a different method of calculating carbon intensity that effectively disregards the GHG contribution
        of such fuels. Again, the regulatory strictures and calculation differences in the U.S. have limited the ability of U.S.
        producers to take similar advantage of many alternate fuels. To achieve our ambition to be Net Zero by 2050, both the
        USEPA, along with other state and federal government agencies will need to revamp their regulatory schemes in this area,
        provide additional incentives to make the burning of alternate fuels attractive and to allow an apples to apples method of
        calculating emissions from alternative fuels. The PCA continues to advocate and provide research on this topic as well.

        Most importantly, we will need to see full commercialization of carbon capture technology in order to meet our
        ambition. The IEA, the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and even the major cement companies acknowledge that
        without carbon capture, the ability for the cement sector to achieve any Net Zero Target or ambition is limited due to the
        inherent chemical reactions that are part of calcination. As of this writing, carbon capture technology remains to be
        proven on any cement plant at full scale operations. The closest to being brought on line is Heidelberg’s Brevik, Norway


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