Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Transition in the Cement Industry

R&D needs and goals
Continued research into carbon capture 
technologies could lead to better optimised 
systems with reduced investment costs and energy 
intensities.
The technical and innovation challenges for CO
2
utilisation focus on increasing the efficiency of 
chemical processes and innovation for new CO
2
utilisation pathways. Intensified research, better 
catalysts and better process designs will bring 
higher efficiency levels, lower costs and lower 
material consumption or waste production. 
New and innovative ways of using CO
2
and the use 
of non-purified CO
2
may make more applications 
possible. Challenges for mineralisation are the 
reduction of processing costs and the widening of 
the range of (waste) materials that can be used as 
input (Sandalow et al., 2017). Research should be 
carried out through collaborative projects across 
different industrial sectors, engaging emitters, 
transformers (e.g. chemical industry) and final 
users. 
Transportation is the crucial link between CO
2
emissions sources and storage sites. In most 
countries, there is insufficient attention paid to 
technology and infrastructure needs. Pipeline 
transportation presents different regulatory, access 
and developmental challenges in different regions. 
The magnitude, complexity and geographic spread 
for integrated CCS transport pipelines require 
region-specific assessments. 
Further research is also needed to better understand 
storage availability on a global level. Cement kilns 
are usually located near large limestone quarries, 
which may not be close to suitable CO
2
storage 
sites. It is also likely that CCS clusters will be 
influenced by their proximity to much larger CO
2
sources such as coal-fired power plants.
Spotlight: Alternative 
binding materials
for cements
During calcination in the kiln for the production 
of clinker, CO
2
is released from raw materials (see 
Table 3). This is referred to as process CO
2
emissions, 
and accounts for about two-thirds of the total direct 
CO
2
emissions from cement production. Clinker 
contains 40-80% alite on a mass basis (ECRA and 
CSI, 2017), resulting in typically around 0.52 t of 
process CO
2
released per tonne of clinker produced. 
Reducing the clinker to cement ratio is a carbon 
mitigation strategy, which together with carbon 
capture, storage and utilisation, reduces the impact 
of process CO
2
emissions in the cement sector. A 
global clinker to cement ratio of 0.60 is realised 
by 2050 in the 2DS, through the increased use of 
cement constituents instead of clinker and greater 
penetration of blended cements. This translates into 
a reduction of the process CO
2
intensity of cement 
by 30% over that period.

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