Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS)
CCUS, when combined with biomass fuels, provides the greatest reduction potential of all of the technology levers to achieve net zero UK concrete and cement. Around 4.6 mtCO2 could be captured annually by 2050. Progressing a full-scale cement CCUS demonstration in the UK has to be a strategic priority. However, there are significant risks with being a first mover. Support from Government will be required to ensure competitiveness is maintained during the transition to net zero carbon cement production.
CCUS lever paper 
Fuel Switching - Carbon neutral and zero carbon kiln energy
The concrete and cement industry has taken the lead in the transition from traditional fossil fuels such as coal and petcoke to the use of waste, waste biomass and waste part-biomass fuels. Waste derived alternative fuel now accounts for 43% of the fuel used, replacing the equivalent of half a million tonnes of coal every year.
Fuel switiching lever paper
Low carbon cements and concretes
Innovations in concrete and cement to use lower emission constituents are an important lever in the decarbonisation of the UK concrete and cement industry. The industry is building on the extensive early action which has seen the sector deliver a 53 per cent reduction in absolute carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) since 1990.
Cement is the binding ingredient in concrete. In the UK there are many cements, with a range of embodied carbon, that can be specified in construction projects and concrete products. Ingredients such as clinker, alkali activators and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are blended or inter-ground to form a fine powder called cement.Carbon emissions will be reduced by accelerating the use of the lower carbon concretes available now and the research and development intoclinker content, alternative binders and cement formulations to increase the range of lower carbon concretes available.
Low carbon cements lever paper
Transport and Indirect Emissions from Decarbonised Electricity
It is vital to recognise that the lowering of carbon emissions will increase energy use in our sector, as technologies are deployed to lower emissions in cement production and transport and NRMM are electrified. Carbon Capture, Usage and/or Storage (CCUS) is an electricityintensive process that will significantly increase the industry’s energy consumption but which will deliver significant CO2 reductions. The UK has committed to decarbonise the electricity grid by 20353, so even though the sector will be using more electricity than today it should produce lower or even zero emissions as a result.
Likewise, the industry has a good track record on adopting new vehicle standards, whether Euro VI engines or safety requirements such as London’s Direct Vision Standard. It is ready to switch to zero emission vehicles when they are available and when the fuelling or charging infrastructure is in place.
Transport and grid decarbonisation lever paper
Carbonation of concrete
Cement is made by heating limestone (calcium carbonate) to around 1450°C to break it down into calcium oxide and carbon dioxide. Approximately two-thirds of the CO2 emissions from cement manufacture, and just over half of the CO2 emissions from concrete, come from this ‘calcination’ reaction.
Carbonation is the naturally occurring process in which concrete absorbs CO2, permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere. A simplified calculation, based on an international literature review, is that, on average, 23% of the raw material calcination CO2 emitted during production of the cement consumed each year is reabsorbed through carbonation.
Carbonation lever paper
Thermal Mass
In buildings, thermal mass is a property of medium and heavy weight construction that enables heat to be stored in the fabric of the building, providing "inertia" against temperature fluctuations. Thermal mass is used to enhance year-round building performance, reducing overheating risk and cooling demand in summer, and helping capture/recycle heat from the sun in winter. Concrete provides a high level of thermal mass, which can improve a building’s energy performance.
A new role is emerging for thermal mass, in which its ability to store/release heat is used to help balance a building’s energy loads with energy grid demand; a vital feature of low carbon buildings as it helps facilitate decarbonisation of the grid.
Thermal mass lever paper