Carbon capture an important strategy for cement sector

Like many conversations in Canada, the debate over the future of fossil fuels has created a false narrative about the critical role that carbon dioxide removal technologies like carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) play in decarbonizing our economy and securing a net-zero future. Look no further than the dismissal of the tax credit for CCUS in Budget 2022 as “just another fossil fuel subsidy” as evidence. It’s time to set the record straight. The spring release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report put front and centre once again the seriousness of the climate challenge. It heightened expectations on business, industry, and governments—we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. That same report also made it clear that capturing and storing industrial emissions is required. Similarly, while the International Energy Agency’s Roadmap to Net-Zero by 2050 signals there can be no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects, it also calls for increased attention and investment in technologies that support the clean energy transition, including CCUS. Let’s be clear: conversations regarding CCUS should not distract us from the urgent need to wean our economy off fossil fuels, and neither should that imperative distract us from the unequivocal need for CCUS in other sectors of the economy. Adam Auer is president and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada. Photograph courtesy of the Cement Association of Canada The challenge of decarbonizing the cement sector is well recognized. Responsible for 1.5 per cent of Canada’s emissions and as much as seven per cent globally, cement emissions are a result of both fossil fuel combustion (about one-third) and chemistry (about two-thirds). While alternatives to fossil fuels exist and are being rapidly deployed by cement manufacturers, we must confront the reality that there are no scalable net-zero cement chemistries on the horizon, and we will need CCUS technology to achieve our industry’s net-zero ambition. Cement is the active ingredient in concrete, the most consumed material on the planet after water and the backbone of modern, safe, and resilient infrastructure. Twice as much concrete is used than all other building materials combined, quite simply because the value it provides to society is unmatched and irreplaceable. The need to decarbonize is undisputed by both climate analysts and industry. The cement and concrete industry will soon publish a roadmap to net-zero concrete that will leave no stone unturned. It will include retreating from fossil energy, innovating in low-carbon cement and concrete formulations, and investing significant efforts to “de-materialize” the built environment through more efficient use of concrete products by using better design and putting greater emphasis on longevity and end of life recycling and re-use. Our modelling reveals that, with collaboration from government and from actors across the construction value chain, we can achieve an up to 40 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 and up to 65 per cent reductions by 2050 without CCUS. But to get at the remaining 35 per cent and achieve net-zero, CCUS is the only solution. Canada’s cement producers are already investing in CCUS technologies at their facilities. Some of the most promising projects are in Alberta, where past investments in supporting infrastructure such as the Alberta CO2 Trunk Line give it an edge over other jurisdictions. Now, the federal government has an opportunity to attract a global pool of capital interested in CCUS to Canada. Commitments to the refundable CCUS tax credit and a guarantee that the carbon price will rise as scheduled, could be the final pieces of the puzzle. An added benefit: some of that capital will be directed into exploiting the potential of concrete as a significant reservoir for captured carbon. By acting and putting the right policies and tools in place to support CCUS in Canada means that we will manufacture the world’s first carbon-neutral cement and concrete, with leading technology developed here that can then be exported to cement and other industrial facilities in Canada and around the world. With such an opportunity ahead, we shouldn’t dismiss the vital role CCUS technology plays in the net-zero imperative and the global fight against climate change. Instead, we should support it. Adam Auer is president and CEO of the Cement Association of Canada. The Hill Times