US: The US Department of Energy has selected four cement producers to receive funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Heidelberg Materials US secured up to US$500m for its planned 2Mt/yr carbon capture project at the Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. National Cement also received up to US$500m, for its Lebec Net Zero limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) project in California. Summit Materials received up to US$216m for a series of clay calcination projects in Georgia, Maryland and Texas. Lastly, Roanoke Cement will receive up to US$61.7m for an LC3 project at its Troutville cement plant in Virginia.  These projects also involve developing a training, education and certification consortium in the cement sector.

Portland Cement Association (PCA) president and CEO Mike Ireland said "This funding is a welcome acknowledgement from the government that America's cement manufacturers are taking ambitious and significant steps toward reaching carbon neutrality. This will move the needle closer to achieving what industry considers the 'heavyweight' of carbon solutions: carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS). Once established nationwide, CCUS will greatly accelerate cement manufacturers' charge toward net zero."

Senior vice president of government affairs Sean O'Neill added “From passage of the Bipartisan Energy Act of 2020 to securing funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, today's announcement is another major milestone in the cement industry's decarbonisation efforts. The PCA is committed to continuing to work with policymakers to ensure the regulatory environment facilitates rather than impedes these and future investments.

New Zealand: Neocrete, a New Zealand start-up that decarbonises concrete production, has raised US$4m in seed funding. Wavemaker Partners, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, led the funding round with a 15% stake for US$2.7m. The funding also included contributions from five other investors, including NZ Green Investment Finance, which acquired a 3.8% share for US$700,000. Neocrete, founded in 2018, has developed an additive that can reduce the cement in concrete by 30-50% without loss in strength, increasing its durability.

Wavemaker Partners' managing partner Paul Santos said "Neocrete is designed to scale rapidly by using a cost-efficient production process that can leverage existing infrastructure."

Zarina Bazoeva, Neocrete co-founder and CEO, said that the funding will enable the company "to scale to meet initial global demand for Neocrete’s additive”. The company plans to complete setting up an Auckland manufacturing facility and scale up a research and development programme, "which is on track to produce cement-free, zero-carbon concrete by 2027,” according to Bazoeva.

US: Alternative cement developer Sublime Systems has entered award negotiations with the US Department of Energy for a grant worth up to US$87m. Gulf Oil & Gas News has reported that Sublime Systems plans to build an electrolysis-based cement plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The department’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations would provide any eventual funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Sublime Systems’ plant is one of 33 scalable decarbonisation solutions in energy-intensive industries selected for potential funding.

CEO Leah Ellis said “Access to sufficient capital for industrial-scale demonstrations is the single biggest obstacle preventing breakthrough innovations from reaching the scale humanity needs to combat the climate crisis. The Department of Energy has cleared this obstacle through funding from OCED’s Industrial Demonstrations Program, embracing its unique role in supporting the deployment of the decarbonised technologies of tomorrow. We look forward to collaborating with them on funding our first commercial manufacturing scale-up, which will ship our clean cement while creating meaningful economic opportunities for the surrounding community.”

US: Brimstone is negotiating a US$189m Federal award with the Department of Energy to finance the construction of a new decarbonised cement plant. This plant will produce up to 140,000t/yr of Ordinary Portland Cement and supplementary cementitious materials, reducing CO₂ emissions by 120,000t/yr.

Brimstone's process uses carbon-free calcium silicate rocks, reducing its CO₂ footprint. In July 2023, Brimstone's cement met ASTM C150 standards, confirming the effectiveness of its decarbonised process. The company is preparing to construct a pilot plant near Reno, Nevada.