Displaying items by tag: net zero

US: The Trump administration has cancelled a US$500m grant awarded in December 2024 to National Cement in California for the conversion of its Lebec cement plant into the state’s first net-zero cement facility. The project, valued at US$891m, aimed to switch to limestone calcined clay cement and use agricultural waste as fuel, with CO₂ captured for permanent underground storage, according to the Bakersfield Californian newspaper. It was expected to create 20 - 25 permanent jobs. The US Department of Energy (DOE) said the project was among 24 grants worth US$3.7bn cancelled due to failure “to advance the energy needs of the American people,” and cited economic infeasibility and poor return on taxpayer investment.

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said that the previous administration “failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars.”

Executive director Steven Nadel of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said “Choosing to cancel these awards is shortsighted, and I think we're going to look back at this moment with regret.”

The project was one of 33 cement, steel and aluminium decarbonisation projects awarded DOE grants in 2023. The project turned up on an April 2025 list of 39 projects the DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations was considering terminating.

US: Queens Carbon has secured US$10m in seed funding to scale up production of its novel cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The start-up will build a 2000t/yr demonstration plant at strategic partner Buzzi Unicem USA's Stockertown, Pennsylvania, cement plant. The plant will demonstrate Queens Carbon’s low-energy Q-Reactor technology, which employs novel hydrothermal chemistry, with the help of steam and pressure, to combine standard cement feedstocks into carbon-neutral hydraulic cement and SCMs. The company’s flagship product, Q-SCM, is capable of replacing up to 50% of cement in concrete mixes. Queens Carbon says that it will now also begin preparations for its first full-scale commercial plant.

Buzzi Unicem USA was among investors in the seed funding round, led by Climate technologies investor Clean Energy Ventures, with participation from fellow venture capital firm Plug and Play.

Queens Carbon CEO Daniel Kopp said "With support from Clean Energy Ventures, Buzzi Unicem USA and the US Department of Energy, we're building next-generation technology and assembling the creative talent needed to drive industry revenues to move cement innovation forward and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production, all without a green premium."

Luigi Buzzi, Chief Technology Officer at Italy-based Buzzi, said "We know that achieving our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 demands forward-thinking solutions to enhance both our operations and our environmental performance.”

Global: Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has launched the Innovandi Open Challenge 2025, inviting start-ups to wok together with cement manufacturers around the world in developing low carbon concrete technologies.

The Open Challenge is looking for start-ups working on next generation materials for net zero concrete, including low-carbon admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials, activators or binders. The challenge aims to find ways to reduce clinker use and incorporate new materials to lower CO₂ emissions.

The programme follows three previous Open Challenges.

Chief executive Thomas Guillot said "Advanced production methods which are decarbonising our sector are already being used in cement and concrete production in many parts of the world. Through the Innovandi Open Challenge, start-ups can bring in even newer ideas and further accelerate our industry's push."

“If you are a start-up from anywhere in the world with an innovative idea or technology, then we want to hear from you."

Start-ups can find more information and apply to take part in the Innovandi Open Challenge by going to the GCCA Open Challenge 4 webpage: Innovandi Open Challenge 4 : GCCA

The mood music for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan has been poor. Despite this though the decarbonisation prospects for the cement sector are looking rosier than other industries.

First, the negatives. People are starting to question whether the COPs are fit for purpose. Donald Trump’s election as President-Elect in the US before the event started pretty much set the tone given that he intends to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Again. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev described his country’s natural gas resources as a “gift from God” following reports that, once again, COP national delegates had been caught promoting fossil fuel deals. France and Argentina also withdrew their lead negotiators for differing political reasons. Meanwhile, there has been increasing lobbying against carbon capture from the environmental sector. In short the view is growing that carbon capture is a delaying tactic by fossil fuel companies rather than a viable solution. This poses a threat to the cement sector because its current net zero roadmaps require carbon capture.

The World Cement Association’s CEO Ian Riley asked in a statement whether there might be “...a shift toward negotiations driven by the major emitters - China, the US, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.” However he observed that none of these countries yet seem ready to lead on the climate agenda globally.

Now, the positives. Cement CO₂ sector emissions may have continued to fall in 2023. The Global Carbon Project published its Global Carbon Budget 2024 in mid-November 2024. It predicts that global fossil CO₂ emissions will rise by 0.8% year-on-year in 2024 with emissions from coal, oil and gas still mounting. However, emissions from cement producers are expected to fall by 0.8%. This trend started in 2022. It appears to be due to declines in China, the US and the EU but, notably, not in India. It’s worth commenting here that this decline may be principally down to the parlous state of the real estate market in China, but there is also a lot of decarbonisation work happening. We’ll take a win where we can.

Next, the Global Cement and Concrete Association’s two big announcements at COP29 have been the publication of its Cement Industry Net Zero Progress Report 2024/25 and the launch of international definitions for low carbon cement and concrete. The progress report proffers a nifty update on how well it’s going. Short version: 23% reduction in emissions intensity since 1990; lots going on; plenty more to do.

One of those issues that require attention is low-carbon procurement. Hence those international definitions. This may seem like an abjectly boring topic but never underestimate the power of standards upon building materials. This should help support governments, policy makers and the private sector to set low carbon procurement rules. Since governments are among the biggest buyers of building materials worldwide, both directly and indirectly, this is intended to start speeding up decarbonisation by driving demand for existing lower carbon cement and concrete products. Whether this is the tool that cracks the global adoption of low carbon building materials remains to be seen. Yet the long lead time it took the Portland Cement Association (PCA) in the US, for example, to promote the use of Portland Limestone Cement is both instructive and inspirational. It can be done and it can deliver results.

COP29 has been described as the ‘finance COP’ because the representatives are hoping to set a new global climate finance target. This target, or new collective quantified goal (NCQG), is seen as one of the summit's main outcomes. It is intended to replace the existing US$100bn goal that is due to expire in 2025. However, the question of how much each country pays has predictably caused disagreements between developed, developing and those countries in between. All of this is well above the ‘paygrade’ of the cement sector but is crucial to what happens next, because it’s going to get expensive. Establishing regional carbon capture infrastructure requires serious funding. Time will tell whether COP29 can actually further this aim. The arguing continues.

Azerbaijan: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has called on governments at the COP29 climate conference to support the decarbonisation of the cement industry. The association published its Net Zero Progress Report 2024/25 to coincide with the conference. The report details the ‘extensive decarbonisation work’ currently underway in the industry, including accelerating carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), switching to renewable energy sources, advancing the circular economy and reducing cement’s clinker factor. The sector expects to commission its first net zero cement plant, following a carbon capture upgrade to Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik plant in Norway, later in 2024.

GCCA president Fernando González said “Our industry is engaged in the most significant transformation in its history. To fully unlock our decarbonisation progress in this crucial Decade to Deliver, we urgently need effective policy support."

One unusual thing about coverage of cement in the media is the way that discussions often centre precisely on its absence – that is, on alternatives to cement. These alternatives boast unique chemistries and performance characteristics, but are all produced without Portland cement clinker. They are generally called ‘alternative cements,’ perhaps because ‘cement-free cement’ does not have such a commercially viable ring to it. This contradictory tendency reached a new high in the past week, with developments in alternative cement across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Together, they hint at a more diverse future for the ‘cement’ industry than the one we know today.

Asia

In Indonesia, Suvo Strategic Minerals has concluded tests with Makassar State University of a novel nickel-slag-based cement. Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia supplied raw materials, and tests showed a seven-day compressive strength of 37.5MPa. Suvo Strategic Minerals says that a partnership with Huadi Nickel-Alloy Indonesia for commercial production is a likely next step.

Europe

Cement producer Mannok and minerals company Boliden partnered with the South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) research centre in Ireland to launch a project to develop supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) from shale on 7 October 2024. The project will additionally investigate CO₂-curing of cement paste backfill for use in mines. Irish state-owned global commerce agency Enterprise Ireland has contributed €700,000 in funding.

UK-based SCM developer Karbonite expects to launch trial production of its olivine-based SCM with a concrete company in 2025. The start-up launched Karbonite Group Holding BV, with offices in the Netherlands, to facilitate this new phase. Karbonite’s SCM is activated at 750 – 850°C and sequesters CO₂ in the activation process, resulting in over 56% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Managing director Rajeev Sood told Global Cement that talks are already underway for subsequent expansions into the UAE and India.

Back in the UK, contractor John Sisk & Son has received €597,000 from national innovation agency Innovate UK. John Sisk & Son is testing fellow Ireland-based company Ecocem’s <25% clinker cement technology in concrete for use in its on-going construction of the Wembley Park mixed development in London.

At the same time, Innovate UK granted a further €3.23m to other companies for concrete decarbonisation. Recipients included a calcined clay being developed by Cemcor, an SCM being developed from electric arc furnace byproducts by Cocoon, a geopolymer cement technology being developed by EFC Green Concrete Technology UK and an initiative to develop alternative cement from recycled concrete fines at the Materials Processing Institute in Middlesbrough. Also included was the Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture, which is working on the London stretch of the upcoming HS2 railway. The joint venture, along with partners including cement producer Tarmac and construction chemicals company Sika UK, will test low-kaolinite London clay as a raw material with which to produce calcined clay as a cement substitute in concrete structures in HS2’s rail tunnels.

Middle East

Talks are underway between UK-based calcined clay producer Next Generation SCM and City Cement subsidiary Nizak Mining Company over the possible launch of a joint venture in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The joint venture would build a 350,000t/yr reduced-CO₂ concrete plant, which would use alternative cement based on Next Generation SCM’s calcined clay.

North America

Texas-based SCM developer Solidia Technologies recently patented its carbonatable calcium silicate-based alternative cement, which sequesters CO₂ as it cures.

Meanwhile, C-Crete Technologies made its first commercial pour of its granite-based cement-free concrete in New York, US. C-Crete Technologies says that the product offers cost and performance parity with conventional cement, with net zero CO₂ emissions. Its raw material is globally more abundant than the limestone used as a raw material for clinker. Other abundantly available feedstocks successfully deployed within C-Crete Technologies’ repertoire include basalt and zeolite.

Across New York State, in Binghamton, KLAW Industries has succeeded in replacing 20% of concrete’s cement content with its powdered glass-based SCM, Pantheon. KLAW Industries has delivered samples to local municipalities and the New York State Department of Transportation. Its success expands the discussion of possible circular cement ingredients from the industrial sphere into post-consumer resources.

In Calgary, Canada, a novel SCM has drawn attention from one of the major cement incumbents: Germany-based Heidelberg Materials. It invested in local construction and demolition materials (CDM)-based SCM developer EnviCore on 9 October 2024. The companies plan to build a pilot plant at an existing Heidelberg Materials CDM recycling centre.

Conclusion

Alternative cement developers are still finding the words to talk about their products. They may be more than ‘supplementary’ up to the point of entirely supplanting 100% of clinker. Product webpages offer ‘hydraulic binder,’ ‘pozzolan’ and even ‘cement.’ As alternative ‘cements’ are developed, they build on the work of pioneers like Joseph Aspdin and Louis Vicat. Start-ups and their backers are now reaching commercial offerings, on a similar-but-different footing to cement itself. None of these novel materials positions itself as the sole, last-minute ‘super sub’ in the construction sector’s confrontation with climate change. Rather, they are a package of solutions which can combine into a net zero-emissions heavy building materials offering, hopefully before 2050.

Related to this is the need for ‘technology neutral’ standards, as championed this week by the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete (ALCCC), along with 23 other European industry associations, civil society organisations and think tanks. The term may sound new, but the concept is critical to the eventual uptake of alternative cements: standards, the ALCCC says, should be purely performance-based. They ought not attempt to define what technology, for example cement clinker, makes a suitable building material. According to the ALCCC, Europe’s building materials standards are not technology neutral, but instead ‘gatekeep’ market access, to the benefit of conventional cement and the exclusion of ‘proven and scalable low-carbon products.’

At the same time, cement itself is changing. Market research from USD Analytics showed an anticipated 5% composite annual growth rate in blended cement sales between 2024 and 2032, more than doubling throughout the period from US$253bn to US$369bn. If you can’t beat it, blend with it!

For a further discussion of alternative cement and binders in Europe, see Global Cement’s interview with ALCCC co-ordinator Joren Verschaeve in the forthcoming November issue of Global Cement Magazine on 17 October 2024.

Azerbaijan: The Azerbaijan Cement Producers Association (ASIA) has held the third Net Zero Accelerator workshop to discuss the final report on its 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. ASIA members, construction companies and government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) all participated in the two-day event. TurkicWorld News has reported that topics include Azerbaijani cement’s clinker factor, alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate, construction and design aspects, carbon capture and related regulatory frameworks. ASIA will launch its finalised roadmap in partnership with the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.

ASIA said "The association is making use of the expertise of the GCCA and ECRA to ensure our roadmap aligns with national policies."

India: Ambuja Cements has entered the Alliance for Industry Decarbonisation (AFID), becoming the first cement manufacturer worldwide to join this global platform. AFID aims to accelerate the net zero transition in energy-intensive sectors, like cement, in accordance with the Paris Agreement. Ambuja Cements has set a net zero target for 2050, with goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The company plans to invest US$1.2bn in renewable energy projects totalling 1GW and 376MW from waste heat recovery systems to power 60% of its expanded capacity by the 2028 financial year. This strategy will reportedly lower its carbon footprint, and utilise more than 8.6Mt of discarded materials in the financial year 2024.

Non-executive director of Ambuja Cements, Mr Karan Adani, said "This marks another significant step for Ambuja in its sustainability journey. We are already amongst the lowest emission intensity cement producers globally and are undertaking a number of strategic initiatives to further reduce our greenhouse gas emissions footprint. Being a member of the Alliance for Industry Decarbonisation will allow us to leverage the experiences of global cross-sector industry peers. And, in turn, share our approach to decarbonisation."

UK: Material Evolution will launch the UK's ‘largest ultra-low carbon cement plant’ in Wrexham in October 2024, reports the Construction Enquirer. The new facility will produce 150,000t/yr of a cement that emits up to 85% less embodied CO₂ than Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), according to the company. Material Evolution is the driving force behind the €9m Mevocrete project, funded by government-led Innovate UK, and utilises byproducts from the steel industry. Business co-founder Liz Gilligan said that Material Evolution aims to remove one gigatonne of carbon by 2040, while replacing OPC as the ‘go-to’ product for UK construction. The company plans to replicate and scale its production across the UK and Europe.

Chief science officer at Material Evolution and co-lead of the ‘Mevocrete’ project, David Hughes, said "Cement is a binder and what we’re looking at here is creating a net zero embodied carbon cement which is inherently more durable, which means our houses, infrastructure and transport highways would be transformed on mass industry scale, really tapping into a local and national picture of a net zero environment.”

UK: Heidelberg Materials has announced the launch of a public consultation for its carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at Padeswood Cement Works. The consultation, which runs from 2 July - 12 August 2024, will gather public input on the proposed plans to install the CCS technology, which will capture up to 800,000t/yr of CO₂, according to local news reports.

The Padeswood CCS project is expected to create over 400 jobs and forms part of the HyNet North West initiative, a major industrial decarbonisation effort that includes constructing a 60km pipeline to transport CO₂ to depleted gas reservoirs in Liverpool Bay for storage.