CO2 Capture in Cement Production

CO₂ capture is the cement industry's next frontier. Direct answer: no cement plant in the world captures its CO₂ at scale today; the routes under study — post-combustion, oxy-fuel, calcium looping, mineralisation — are at pilot and demonstrator stages. It is a sector subject, not a purchasing option.

Why cement is so hard to decarbonise

Cement's peculiarity lies in its chemistry: roughly two thirds of the emissions of a tonne of clinker come from limestone decarbonation (CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂, a reaction mandatory to produce the binder), the rest coming mainly from the kiln's heat (~1,450 °C). Decarbonising energy is therefore not enough: even a kiln fired on green energy would emit the limestone's CO₂. Hence the interest — and the difficulty — of capture.

The routes under study

The locks to pick

The first is energy: pulling CO₂ out of flue gas costs energy, which must itself be decarbonised for the balance to hold. The second is scale: a modern plant emits thousands of tonnes of CO₂ per day — compression, transport and storage chains are national infrastructures. The third is economic: without a structured carbon price or valued outlets, the extra cost does not fit in the bag's price.

What it changes for your site: nothing — yet

No 'captured' cement is commercially available; 'CO₂-injected' concretes remain niches. Today's concrete levers lie elsewhere: reduced-clinker formulations (CEM II with additions, our CPJ range among them), service life of structures (a concrete that lasts fifty years amortises its footprint), and local sourcing that shortens transport.

We follow these developments as a producer — the subject deserves honest telling rather than slogan summary. For your current sites: CPJ 45 and CPJ 55 compliant with NM 10.1.004 / EN 197-1, quote within 24 h.