Calera

Fortera makes low-cost, eco-friendly cement. Fortera dedicates to the global goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by a teraton. The company consists of a team of highly skilled scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs who know how to minimize risk through thought, design, and execution. Fortera always looks to build awareness around its solution for reducing global CO₂ emissions.

Fortera brings nature to the cement industry. Fortera costs 10% less than traditional cement without sacrificing quality or performance. Also, in traditional cement production, 44% of the limestone fed into the process is decomposed into CO₂ almost doubling one's limestone mining, grinding, and calcining costs. Since Fortera does not release CO₂, every ton of feedstock results in one ton of sellable product, creating an economic advantage.

The cement product by Fortera is regulation-ready, for use as supplementary cementitious material, can be co-blended with portland cement or used as a substitute, and has curing characteristics as portland cement.

The Fortera ReCarb™ process re-carbonates calcium oxide without losing its cementitious properties. The result is a cementitious mineral that is rich in CO₂.

Fortera makes a rare form of reactive calcium carbonate (RCC). Reactive Calcium Carbonate or CaCO₃ is a reactive mineral of spherical particles precipitated from solution, naturally formed when calcium and CO₂ come into contact. In nature, this combination results in a cementitious reaction forming hard materials and robust structures such as shells, rocks, and reefs. Coral reefs and seashells use CO₂ as a cement ingredient in order to form hard materials in the ocean.

Fortera develops a process for recreating this natural cement with the ability to stabilize it in a dry powder form only activating its cementitious properties the next time it is wetted. Fortera's reactive calcium carbonate reacts with water transforming from spherical particles to a complex structural network of rods. This transformation is where Fortera cement gets its hardening and binding ability.