Ecocem Director speaks out against composition of Net Zero Industry Act

Ecocem’s Founder and Managing Director, Donal O'Riain, has spoken out on what he terms a missed opportunity with the passing of Europe's Net Zero Industry ACT (NZIA). Mr Riain stressed that the Net Zero Industry ACT (NZIA) takes no account of alternative technologies to cut in half CO₂ emissions from the cement industry by 2030. 

From a low-carbon cement technology perspective, the scope of the NZIA is very specific. Companies and technologies will need to fall in to one of the narrowly defined categories. Only one, carbon capture and storage (CCS), is relevant to the cement industry, explains Ecocem. 

CCS is unlikely to come on-stream at scale before 2035. Alternative low-carbon cement technologies have the potential to halve sector emissions by 2030, much faster than CCS and at a far lower cost. 

Commenting on the publication of the NZIA today, Mr O’Riain said: “We see the NZIA as a missed opportunity for cleantech innovation. CCS will not help the cement industry achieve the Fit-for-55 targets by 2030. The only way to rapidly reduce cement’s GHG emissions is to minimise the clinker content, which is responsible for 94 per cent of cement’s emissions. Focussing only on CCS ignores support for oven-ready cement technologies that can accelerate reduction of CO₂ in a hard-to-abate industry.

"In comparison to the United States Inflation Reduction Act, the NZIA sector focus is much narrower. This narrow focus will not help the European cement industry to halve sector emissions by 2030. The most effective technologies to decarbonise cement rapidly are being overlooked. The priority to combat climate change is rapid and effective action to reduce CO₂ emissions at the lowest cost,” added Mr O’Riain.

As Europe’s leading low carbon cement business Ecocem remains a willing and constructive partner of EU policy makers to ensure the Net Zero Industry Act becomes a truly effective solution for all critical cleantech solutions.