The Clean Energy Ministerial CCUS (CEM CCUS), an initiative of 14 member countries with the goal to accelerate CCUS, and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) announced at the first-ever Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF) on 23 September an agreement that will help scale up the deployment of CCUS throughout the cement and concrete industry. 

The agreement will mobilise efforts to study incentives, policy frameworks and finance solutions at a global level to enable CCUS projects over the next ten years. In addition, it will facilitate the identification and mapping of potential cement-sector CCUS projects. 

The agreement will also explore the transport and storage infrastructure needs involved in integrating cement CCUS projects into strategic CCUStransport and storage hubs. It will also help to foster project partnerships and lead to acceleration of projects in developing economies.

Thomas Guillot, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association said: “Cement is the vital ingredient in concrete, the world’s most-used human-made material. It is the backbone of the modern world. The industry is striving to innovate at every stage of the concrete life cycle. We see carbon capture as a vital lever for the global cement industry to achieve its ambitious goal of net-zero concrete by 2050.

“We are starting to see the first CCUS projects already emerge. We have mapped 35 projects announced and underway across the world and up to 100 additional projects are also in the pipeline among our member companies who operate all around the globe.”

Mr Guillot added: “This is good progress, but we cannot achieve our decarbonisation mission alone. CCUS is a key enabling technology, and it is a critical area for collaboration to ensure that government policy, enabling infrastructure and wider investment is in place. That is why the partnership with the Clean Energy Ministerial CCUS Initiative is so important, to help unlock and accelerate further progress and deployment.”

Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, US Department of Energy, said: “Reaching our ambitious climate goals requires the decarbonization of various heavy industries, including cement production. In the United States, through the support of Congress, we are currently funding projects to develop carbon capture technologies in cement and other key industrial sectors that are essential to modern life, with the aim of helping to achieve net-zero emissions economywide by 2050 and retaining and creating high-wage industrial jobs. The U.S. Government is keen to drive progress in this area, together with our partners in the CEM CCUS Initiative and the Global Cement and Concrete Association.”

The agreement was announced at a GCCA and CEM CCUS led event at the Global Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA. 

Image: Major CCUS industry and government collaboration announced at Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF) in Pittsburgh, USA. Left to right: Thomas Guillot, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association, Henriette Nesheim, Assistant Director General, Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy – and CEM CCUS Initiative Co-Lead from Norway, Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, US Department of Energy (Photo: Business Wire)