Cement emissions can be reduced without carbon capture by using less cement, making cement with less clinker, improving plant energy efficiency, and replacing high-emissions kiln fuels. Alternative raw materials and new binders can also change the emissions-intensive chemistry of production, though their readiness and availability vary. The key distinction: efficiency and fuel changes reduce energy emissions, while reducing clinker or changing binders can also address emissions tied to making clinker.
Why cement emissions need more than an energy fix
Making conventional cement releases carbon dioxide in two main ways: burning fuel to heat the kiln and chemically converting limestone into clinker, the main ingredient in ordinary Portland cement. The latter is called process emissions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) notes that process emissions remain even if a kiln switches to bioenergy or electricity. So efficiency and cleaner heat matter, but cannot by themselves remove the emissions from limestone chemistry. IEA, Cement (2023); IEA technology roadmap.
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What can reduce cement emissions without carbon capture?
| Measure | Main emissions addressed | What it does | Key constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material efficiency and demand reduction | Avoids energy and process emissions from cement and concrete production that is not needed | Design and build structures to deliver the required service with less material. | It is a system-level strategy, not a kiln change; the sources do not establish a universal reduction potential. IEA, Breakthrough Agenda Report 2025. |
| Lower clinker content and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) | Process and energy emissions associated with clinker production | Replace some clinker with suitable SCMs or other cement constituents while meeting performance requirements. | Material supply, product standards and procurement practices can limit uptake. IEA, Breakthrough Agenda Report 2024. |
| Alternative raw materials, including calcined clay | Emissions associated with conventional limestone-based clinker production | Use alternative raw materials to reduce reliance on conventional clinker inputs. | This does not mean all process emissions disappear across cement production. IEA, Cement (2023). |
| Plant energy efficiency | Energy-related emissions | Reduce the heat or other energy required per tonne of clinker or cement. | It does not eliminate process CO2 from limestone conversion. IEA, Cement (2023). |
| Lower-emissions kiln fuels | Energy-related emissions | Replace some conventional kiln heat with lower-emissions energy, such as bioenergy, hydrogen or electricity in the IEA pathway. | Fuel availability, emissions intensity and plant configuration matter; process emissions remain. IEA, Cement (2023); American Cement Association, U.S. roadmap (January 2024). |
| Alternative binders | Potentially substantial process emissions, depending on binder chemistry | Use binding systems that differ from ordinary Portland cement in their materials and production chemistry. | Maturity and scale vary, and some options remain in research and development. IEA, Cement (2023). |
How much do efficiency, clinker reduction and fuel switching contribute?
The IEA’s 2023 net-zero pathway illustrates the scale of change envisaged; these values are scenario milestones, not forecasts or guarantees of actual industry performance.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →| Measure in the IEA pathway | 2022 | 2030 | 2035 | 2050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinker-to-cement ratio | 0.71 | 0.65 | 0.61 | 0.57 |
| Kiln thermal energy intensity (GJ per tonne of clinker) | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Low-emissions fuels as a share of thermal energy use | 5% | 30% | 49% | 86% |
The clinker ratio is especially important: less clinker per tonne of cement means less clinker production—and therefore less associated process and energy emissions—for a given amount of cement. The energy-intensity and fuel-share measures address kiln heat, not the chemistry of limestone conversion. IEA, Cement (2023).
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What determines whether an option works in practice?
- Material supply: SCMs and alternative raw materials must be available in the right quantities and qualities where cement is made.
- Standards and procurement: Specifications and purchasing rules can either enable or constrain the use of suitable SCM blends. The IEA identifies standards and procurement changes as ways to facilitate SCM use. IEA, Breakthrough Agenda Report 2024.
- Product performance: A lower-clinker mix or alternative binder must meet the application’s technical requirements; materials are not interchangeable by default.
- Fuel and plant conditions: A fuel’s actual emissions intensity, availability and compatibility with a particular plant affect the benefit of switching.
- Technology maturity: Established efficiency improvements and some raw-material substitutions are different from binders still in research and development.
How to compare claims about cost
Cost figures should be compared only when they refer to the same production boundary, region and technology. The IEA’s 2025 estimate that early commercial near-zero cement plants using carbon capture have production costs 75–150% above conventional plants is specific to CCS plants and varies by region. It is not an estimate of the cost of clinker substitution, efficiency, fuel switching or alternative binders, so it cannot be used as a direct price comparison for those options. IEA, Breakthrough Agenda Report 2025.
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