Zero Bound

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to legislate for a net zero target, which it aims to reach by 2050. This requires every part of the economy to decarbonise.

For cement, reaching net zero will depend on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS). As an internationally traded commodity, deployment of CCUS must be achieved whilst also maintaining competitiveness in an international market. This will ensure that the UK maintains a strong domestic supply of cement to deliver government ambitions on economic growth and support the transition to net zero.

CCUS development

With capacity to store over 70 billion t of CO₂ in saline aquifers offshore, and being a relatively small island which reduces distances for transporting CO₂ to storage, the UK is ideally placed to be at the forefront of CCUS development. In 2020, after several previous false starts, the government published the ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.' The plan committed to deployment of CCUS in two industrial clusters by the mid-2020s, and a further two clusters by 2030, with an ambition to capture 20 – 30 Mt CO₂/yr by 2030. This commitment was followed in 2021 with the introduction of a cluster sequencing approach.

Cluster sequencing

In the UK, 50% of all industry emissions are concentrated in seven major industrial clusters or geographic areas. Focussing the development of CCUS in these clusters takes advantage of concentrated areas of emissions to achieve high-impact, large-scale emissions reductions, and reduces cost and risk by enabling the sharing of transport and storage infrastructure.

Phase 1 of the cluster sequencing approach was launched in 2021. Clusters were invited to submit proposals which were used to identify two ‘Track 1’ clusters; HyNet in the North West of England and North Wales, and the East Coast Cluster (ECC) in Teesside. Phase 2 of the approach then invited projects aiming to reduce their CO₂ emissions (known as ‘emitters’) – and capable of connecting to CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure within the cluster – to submit applications to enter commercial negotiations with the government for long-term financial support. In March 2023, eight decarbonisation projects across ECC and HyNet were selected, including the Heidelberg Materials, Padeswood Cement Works in North Wales.

In October 2024 the government announced £21.7 billion funding over 25 years for the first CCUS projects in HyNet and ECC, with two projects in ECC reaching financial close in December 2024. In April 2025 financial close was reached with Eni on the HyNet CO₂ transport and storage system.

Cluster sequencing is continuing, with a Track 1 expansion for HyNet and the selection of Track 2 clusters completed in 2023.

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/special-reports/09062025/zero-bound/