Spain: Çimsa has invested €4.2m in launching a solar photovoltaic power plant to power its white cement plant in Buñol, Valencia. The solar plant has a capacity of 7.2MW and will supply about 18% of the energy needs for the cement plant.

The facility features 11,000 solar panels spread over 100,000m². This new solar power plant is expected to produce approximately 12GWh/yr of electricity, reducing CO₂ emissions by about 3000t/yr.

Kyrgyzstan: The Eurasian Development Bank is financing the construction of the Kulanak hydropower Plant with a capacity of 100MW and a new clinker line at the Kant cement plant.

"The substantial growth in the bank's investment portfolio in Kyrgyzstan, which reached 61.6% of the investments planned in the country strategy for 2022-2026, reflects the bank's commitment to increasing its project activities in the region," said Nikolai Podguzov, Chairman of the EDB Board, during a meeting with Kyrgyzstan's Finance Minister, Almaz Baketaev.

Delegates at the Global CemCCUS Conference last week applauded when Anders Petersen, the Senior Project Manager Brevik CCS, Heidelberg Materials said that the Brevik cement plant will be capturing CO₂ and permanently storing it within the year. Rightly so. This moment will mark a historic milestone for the sector when it arrives. Net zero cement production is coming.

Last week’s event in Oslo delivered an overview of the current state of carbon capture in the cement and lime industries. It explored the practical challenges these industries face in capturing CO₂ emissions and - crucially – then working out what to do with them afterwards. Incredibly, delegates were able to view the construction site of Heidelberg Materials’ forthcoming full-scale carbon capture unit at its Brevik plant in Norway. On the same day as the tour, Holcim broke ground on the Go4Zero carbon capture project at its Obourg plant in Belgium.

The key takeaway at the conference was that a (dusty) bulk solids sector is starting to work with handling (clean) gases in a way it hasn’t before. This recurred repeatedly throughout the conference. Petersen summarised it well when he described Brevik as a meeting pointing between the cement industry and the petrochemical one. It looks likely at present that there will not be a single predominant carbon capture technology that the majority of cement plants will deploy in the future. Similarly, CO₂ storage infrastructure and sequestration sites differ. Utilisation plans are less developed but also offer various options. Yet, if carbon capture becomes common at cement and lime plants, then these companies will need to learn how to filter and handle gases regardless of the capture method and destination for the CO₂. So presentations on filtration and compressors were a revelation at CemCCUS.

The key obstacle remains how to pay for it all. By necessity, most of the big early projects have received external funding, mostly from governments. Although, to be fair, the private companies involved are often investing considerable amounts of their own money and taking risks in the process too. In the European Union (EU) CO₂ is being priced via the Emissions Trading Scheme and investments are being made via the EU Innovation Fund and other schemes. In the US the approach lies in tax breaks, on-shoring and investment in new sustainable technologies.

However, other countries have different priorities. Or as a South Asian contact told Global Cement Weekly at a different conference, “How can our government think about sustainability when it can’t feed everyone?” The world’s biggest cement producing countries are China and India, and then the EU and the US follow. Brazil, Türkiye and Vietnam are at similar levels or not far behind. The EU and the US represent about 9% of global cement production based on Cembureau figures for 2022. China and India cover 61% of production. Neither of these countries has announced a plan to encourage the widespread construction of carbon capture units. Once China ‘gets’ cement carbon capture though, it seems plausible that it will dominate it as it has in many other sectors such as solar panel production. Exporters such as Türkiye and Vietnam will have to adapt to the rules of their target markets.

The march by the cement and lime sectors towards carbon capture has been long, difficult and expensive. It also has a long, long way to go. Yet, the next decade promises to be exciting as new technologies are developed and tested, full-scale projects are commissioned and CO₂ pipelines, sequestration sites and usage hubs come online. The next key milestones to look out for include the first full-scale installations using other capture methods (such as oxy-fuel kilns), the first CO₂ pipeline network that hooks up to a cement plant, the first land-based sequestration site, the first industrial hub that uses CO₂ at scale to manufacture a product, new government policies in China and India, and the first large unit that is funded entirely from private finance. To end on a positive note, a Cembureau representative at the Global CemCCUS Conference reckoned that Europe will be able to capture 12Mt/yr of CO₂ by 2030. If it happens, this will be a major achievement and a serious statement of intent towards net zero for the sector.

This short recap of the event barely touches the surface of what happened so be sure to read the full review of the 1st Global CemCCUS Conference.

The 2nd Global CemCCUS Conference will take place in Hamburg in May 2025

Thailand: Siam City Cement has appointed Ranjan Sachdeva as its Group CEO from the start of May 2024. He succeeded the previous CEO, Aidan Lynam, on an acting basis in January 2024. He will also continue to work as the Group Chief Financial Officer until a replacement is found.

Sachdeva has worked for Siam City Cement since 2017, first as the Group Head Internal Audit and Compliance and then as the Group Chief Financial Officer, from April 2023. Prior to this he worked in procurement and audit roles for Holcim in India. He has also spent time at Vedanta and Nestle during his career. He holds a bachelor of engineering from the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and a master of business administration (MBA) degree from the University of Leicester, among other qualifications.

Europe: Cembureau has released an update to its net zero roadmap. The roadmap now aims for a 37% reduction in CO₂ emissions related to cement production by 2030, 78% by 2040 and net zero cement production by 2050, with potential to become carbon negative.

The roadmap also states the key policy measures needed to meet these updated goals, including: The implementation of a watertight carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), the increase in funding for decarbonisation initiatives, the need for guaranteed access to affordable decarbonised energy, infrastructure and raw materials, as well as the creation of lead markets for low carbon, circular products.

President of Cembureau, Ken McKnight said "In the past four years, the European cement sector has clearly moved from ambition to deployment. We have the potential to scale up our climate ambition, but we need policymakers to match this ambition through decisive policies."

Australia: Veolia ANZ and ResourceCo have secured a contract to supply over 1Mt of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from their Adelaide facility to Adbri Cement's Birkenhead plant, aiming to replace natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to Veolia, around 1.5Mt of waste will be diverted from landfill during the course of the contract.

Brett Brown, chief operating officer at Adbri, said "Adbri has pioneered the use of RDF in Australia. Cement manufacturing is energy intensive, and the use of alternative fuels is one of the levers we are using to reduce our emissions as part of our goal of net zero by 2050."

Indonesia: The Jakarta administration has commenced the construction of the Rorotan refuse derived fuel (RDF) plant on a 7.8-hectare site in North Jakarta, aiming to process 2,500t/day of waste. The US$75m project is funded from the 2024 regional budget and is expected to be completed by December 2024 and start operations in early 2025. The city of Jakarta produces nearly 8,000t/day of waste, the majority of which goes to the Bantar Gebang landfill in West Java. The facility will convert 35-40% of the waste processed into about 875t/day of alternative fuels.

The Rorotan facility is the second RDF plant initiated by the Jakarta administration, following the Bantar Gebang facility, which began operations in 2023. This new facility marks a shift from the planned waste-to-energy incinerator in Sunter, which was cancelled due to high costs and bureaucratic delays.

Acting Jakarta governor Heru Budi Hartono said "This technology is still a very small part of our larger efforts to address the city's waste problem."

Head of the Jakarta Environment Agency Asep Kuswanto said "The RDF can become another source of revenue for the city, as we can sell the alternative fuel from the facility to industry."

India: The National Council for Cement and Building Materials has inaugurated the NCB Incubation Centre (NCB-IC) in New Delhi, designed to support small businesses and startups in the cement industry through mentorship, training and access to advanced laboratories.

This initiative is expected to create new opportunities for employment and technology development in the region, while also contributing to the overall growth and development of the country.

This development is part of the government's broader strategy to enhance the cement sector's contribution to national growth by promoting market-ready products and services.

Zambia: Grizzly Mining has announced an investment of US$200m to establish a cement plant in Solwezi, Northwestern Province. The announcement was made by the company’s vice chairperson Abdoul Ba during an interview, according to the Times of Zambia.

Brazil: Italy-based Buzzi will acquire complete ownership of cement producer Cimento Nacional in a deal valued between €290m and €310m. The transaction involves the exercise of a put option on a 50% stake by Grupo Ricardo Brennand, making Buzzi the sole owner, according to local sources.

Cimento Nacional operates five cement plants and two grinding sites, with a production capacity exceeding 7.2Mt/yr. Buzzi will finance the acquisition using existing liquidity and expects to finalise the transfer at the end of 2024.