An updated version of the Green Cement Technology Tracker was released this week. The summary is that carbon capture utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) projects are now commercial but that less than 2% of total global emissions from the cement industry are expected to be captured by 2035. With the Global CemCCUS Conference due to take place in Hamburg in early June 2026, we take stock of what’s been happening.
The Green Cement Technology Tracker maps more than 175 projects around the world, at various stages of development, covering both carbon capture and calcined clay kilns. It is run by the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT), an initiative that was launched by the governments of Sweden and India at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in 2019. Another perspective on this can be viewed in Global Cement’s own listing of industrial scale CCUS projects in the cement sector.
Graph 1: Total carbon capture project announcements in cement plants by year and continent. Source: Green Cement Technology Tracker/LeadIT.
Two trends can be seen in Graph 1 above if we focus on CCUS. Firstly, the number of projects being announced fell to 12 in 2025 from 19 in 2024. The numbers are small but this is the first fall in the data since it started recording these schemes in 2015. Secondly, the number of projects outside of Europe outnumbered the ones from within it for the first time since 2019. Notably, the number of CCUS projects in Asia grew to seven in 2025. Aaron Maitais, the Policy Lead at LeadIT, interpreted this as follows: “…the successful delivery of first-of-a-kind large-scale projects is more significant for building confidence and unlocking future investments, rather than the number of announcements.” Analysis by LeadIT noted that both access to government finance and to CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure has proved vital for the early projects. It forecasts that around 58Mt/yr of CO2 is likely to be captured by 38 commercial-scale CCUS projects in 2035.
So far, the signs suggest that a deceleration of new CCUS projects looks set to continue in 2026. Two key projects have stalled. These are Holcim’s project at its Obourg cement plant in Belgium and Heidelberg Materials’ project at the Slite plant in Sweden. Neither of these projects has been cancelled, but their future remains uncertain. LeadIT was also anticipating the commissioning of Heidelberg Materials’ Edmonton CCS project in late 2026 but announcements on this one have been scarce although it is progressing. A presentation by the cement producer at the Global CemCCUS Conference 2025 suggested a commissioning date in 2028 instead. Smaller demonstrations such as Ash Grove Cement’s project with Carbon Upcycling at its Mississauga plant in Canada and Heidelberg Materials’ Leilac demonstration at its Ennigerloh plant in Germany are likely to start by the end of 2026.
Notably, most of those Asia-based projects flagged by LeadIT were pilots in India. This roughly fits with growing preparation for net-zero in the country such as the government issuance of emission intensity targets and the launch of a National R&D Roadmap for CCUS. The government then set aside just over US$2bn in its budget in early 2026 for investment on CCUS in hard to abate sectors, including cement. It is likely that early movers in the local cement sector are jockeying to capture some of that funding.
Co-incidentally another CCUS project was announced this week by the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA). From July 2026 a mobile CCUS unit supplied from Canada-based Clean Energy Technologies Research Institute (CETRI) will be rotated between cement plants in the Saraburi Sandbox. The pilot is intended to validate performance under diverse operational conditions and prepare for commercial-scale deployment.
To finish, carbon capture isn’t getting any easier for the cement sector. The key problems of de-risking early large projects through government funding and connecting to CO2 infrastructure remain. As the flagship projects start to arrive, we may now face a credibility gap between government encouragement and market acceptance. Debate and information exchange on the topic at this stage now becomes more important than ever. Provided that net-zero policies remain in place, then research and deployment of CCUS by the cement sector is likely to continue. This can be seen as the projects keep coming from different parts of the world.
The 3rd Global CemCCUS Conference will take place in Hamburg, Germany on 9 - 10 June 2026.
