We are fully committed to rapidly halving CO2 in cement production."

The 2015 Paris Climate Summit set ambitious but necessary global warming targets in the resulting Climate Accord. To keep the planet livable, this warming must be limited to a maximum of 1.5°C by the end of the century. This can only be achieved by halving carbon emissions by 2030. By 2035, the reduction in emissions must be as much as 75%. Here the cement industry has an important role to play.

Ecocem, founded over twenty years ago in Ireland by Donal O'Riain, took a global leadership role as early as 2002, with the start-up of low-carbon cement production at their Dutch site. Ecocem currently produces 2.4 million tons of low-carbon cement annually at its four European production sites. Late last year, Ecocem announced Act, a groundbreaking, scalable low-carbon technology that achieves up to 70% reduction in CO₂ can yield. Currently, the technology is undergoing industrial testing. Ecocem will make this technology, which has the potential to permanently change the industry, available to the cement industry through licensing. This research breakthrough is the result of a long and intensive research process at their research center near Paris. Annually, Ecocem spends 1.5% of total sales here on R&D. Ecocem employs more than 200 people, including as many as 30 in the research department.

Donal O'Riain: "The figures on the environmental impact of cement are alarming to say the least. The production of Portland clinker as a binder for concrete alone accounts for over 7% of total global carbon emissions! Although cement accounts for only a good 10% of concrete volume, it still accounts for nearly 90% of polluting carbon emissions. Definitely an important factor to consider. And this has everything to do with the burning process of the basic raw material limestone. The high processing temperatures of more than 1,400°C consume a lot of energy and the whole process emits significant amounts of carbon."

Donal O'Riain: "To make the production process of cement, and by extension concrete, more environmentally friendly, we started looking for alternatives to the polluting limestone fraction. Currently, in addition to a greatly reduced amount of Portland clinker, we are using, among other things, ground blast furnace slag from the steel industry. The ground slag provides a better and faster reaction with water and leads to a stronger end product. ACT, the new technology, can be applied to a wide range of low-carbon alternatives to clinker, including BFS, limestone, natural pozzolans, other steel slag and burnt clay. Important here is that the new raw materials and technologies are scalable and will not shift the emissions problem to other industries."

Other technologies such as Carbon Capture capture techniques that capture CO₂ capture and neutralization via modified pre- or post-combustion in cement kilns can positively affect the ecological picture of the cement industry, but these require expensive and complex interventions in the production process and are therefore currently difficult to implement.

In its own report, "Cement: increased ambitions, reduced emissions," Ecocem makes it clear that sitting still and waiting is not an option. The company has developed scalable solutions to enable the 50% reduced carbon emissions by 2030.

Donal O'Riain: "With our ACT (Advanced Cement Technology) carbon reduction solution, we are making it possible to achieve the 70% reduction by 2035. In developing it, we did not go overnight but our R&D department worked closely with universities and leading companies such as Saint-Gobain. In doing so, ACT also represents an incentive for the industry to ACT now before it is too late. The impact of using ACT on the total cost of production will be minimal. In any case, the alternative is financially less attractive: an expected 80% increase in the cost of allowances for those who fail to meet emissions standards."

Donal O'Riain: "Back in 2022, we started producing and selling GGBS in the Netherlands. As a bridgehead, an obvious choice to access the Benelux, the largest and densest cement market in Europe with a long tradition in low CO₂-emissions. In fact, the Dutch market is currently the most advanced in Europe in this area. With this experience in the Benelux, we are perfectly placed to decarbonize cement on a larger scale.

In the Netherlands and elsewhere, we will license other cement companies to use our technology and provide technical support to ensure the best possible results. We also have an extensive program of demonstration projects in the pipeline, in collaboration with partners in cement, concrete and construction, to prepare for the large-scale rollout of Ecocem low CO₂-emissions as of the middle of this decade."

Donal O' Riain: "Ecocem must take leadership responsibility in accelerating cement decarbonization. However, there are limits to the scale we can achieve. The role of other stakeholders is at least as crucial. The EU must expand its support for decarbonization beyond CCS and respond quickly. While CCS/CCUS is clearly part of any decarbonization solution, it makes more sense to consider CO₂-production in the first place. The EU should also reduce free emission allowances for CO₂ from cement production. EU and national authorities responsible for standards should accelerate changes to remove barriers to the use of low-CO cement.₂-emissions. Finally, the cement industry needs to transition to low CO₂-emissions at a rapid pace. The scale and speed of change are unprecedented. The answer must be coherent thinking and coordinated action among all stakeholders."

Thanks to pathfinders like Ecocem, a bright future is in store for building with concrete, long the most widely used building material and soon one of the most environmentally friendly.

'The scale and speed of change are unprecedented. The answer must be coherent thinking and coordinated action among all stakeholders'