Bill Gates-Led Fund Invests in European Green Cement Maker

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the $2 billion fund led by Bill Gates, has invested in a company that’s developing low-carbon cement.

Ecocem Materials Ltd., based in Ireland, is tackling a particularly intractable problem when it comes to lowering greenhouse gases emissions. Producing cement contributes as much as 8% of global carbon pollution. Manufacturing plants can last for five decades or more, meaning new technologies enter the market very slowly.

The vast majority of emissions from cement are linked to the production of clinker—a binding agent that can make up as much as 70% of the final product. It’s what holds water and ...