Spain: Cement consumption in Catalonia slightly decreased by 0.6% year-on-year in September 2024, totalling 151,157t, according to the employers’ association Ciment Català. The association has confirmed stabilisation of the cement market, following a decline that started in November 2022. In the first nine months of 2024, consumption stood at 2.1Mt, down by 4.3% from the same period in 2023. However, cement production saw a 15% increase in September 2024, to 271,718t. Production in 2024 dropped slightly by 0.3% year-on-year to 3.31Mt. Exports of cement and clinker in September 2024 remained stable, with a marginal increase of 0.3%, amounting to 144,601t. In 2024, exports declined by 25% to 1.5Mt.

Ciment Català said that the industry is shifting towards decarbonisation and that "industrial projects associated with sustainability involve extraordinarily high investments", according to Via Empresa News.

UK: Cool Planet Technologies has raised €23.7m in a funding round led by Taranis Carbon Ventures, with participation from CRH Ventures and BlueScopeX. This investment will support the development of Cool Planet's ‘low-energy, low-cost’ membrane-based carbon capture technology. It will also go towards the construction of a new membrane manufacturing facility at Holcim’s Höver cement plant near Hannover, Germany, capturing 10,000t/yr of CO₂.

CEO of Cool Planet Technologies Andrew Corner said “We are delighted to have the support of these three new major industrial investors and we want to thank our existing investors for their continued support. We believe that our technology will significantly reduce the cost of carbon capture and help to accelerate its adoption at scale. This investment will enable us to demonstrate both the potential of our technology at scale and how Cool Planet will become a leading player in providing affordable solutions to help decarbonise multiple industries.”

Germany: A consortium comprising Cemex and engineering company Linde has won €157m from the EU Innovation Fund for a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) initiative at the Rüdersdorf cement plant. The project will capture 1.3Mt/yr of CO₂ from the plant’s production processes, aiming for complete decarbonisation of the site by 2030, aligning with Cemex's Future in Action climate strategy. The Rüdersdorf facility will use Linde's HISORP(R) technology for CO₂ capture, featuring a cryogenic-adsorptive process that captures CO₂ from exhaust gas at the source, ready for compression, liquification and eventual permanent sequestration at an offshore storage site in the North Sea.

Sergio Menéndez, president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, said "Our Future in Action climate action strategy is working hard to drive several revolutionary CCUS projects across our global operations. While we are working hard to decarbonise using existing technology, an important component of our Future in Action strategy is to develop breakthrough decarbonisation solutions for our industry to reach Net Zero. The Rüdersdorf project is Cemex's largest CCUS project to date, with all the hallmarks and credentials to make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the cement industry."

Germany: Schwenk Zement will utilise Germany-based Orcan Energy's organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology at its Allmendingen cement plant in Baden-Württemberg. The installation of five ORC modules aims to harness residual heat from the clinker cooling process to generate electricity, saving 8.5GWh/yr. Orcan Energy expects operations to begin in the first quarter of 2025. The company has previously worked with Dyckerhoff and Cemex.