The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed the UK Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) 7th carbon budget amid calls to reduce the UK’s consumption emissions rather than decarbonise through deindustrialisation.
In its seventh carbon budget, published on Wednesday, 26 February 2025, the CCC recognises that carbon capture will be vital to decarbonising the UK cement and lime sectors—represented by the MPA—due to unavoidable emissions from chemical changes in the materials, called process emissions.
Cement and lime are essential for UK construction and manufacturing, and, according to the MPA, carbon capture—combined with using waste biomass as fuel—can potentially increase UK cement and lime production beyond net-zero emissions.
Hydrogen could also be an important fuel for decarbonising activities in the mineral products industry. However, the MPA says it needs to be both affordable and accessible in sufficient quantities and welcomes the CCC’s advice to focus hydrogen use on industry.
However, while some UK cement and lime plants are part of geographical ‘clusters’, where they can collaborate with other industrial operators on CCUS and hydrogen initiatives, half of the UK’s producers are located outside these clusters, making decarbonisation more challenging.
For the hundreds of aggregate quarry sites looking at hydrogen-powered Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM), such as dump trucks and excavators, the CCC’s carbon budget suggests they will need to find a hydrogen supply solution that does not rely on the gas grid, for example, generating on-site or delivery by truck.
To be truly world-leading, the MPA argues that the CCC and government must set targets based on the total emissions from the consumption of goods in the UK, including the emissions embodied in imported goods. Over the last two decades, imports of cement have been rising. In 2023, the UK cement market comprised 32% imports while consumption has remained broadly the same — evidence that the UK is already decarbonising by deindustrialising, posing a threat to rural jobs and economies.
That’s why MPA has repeatedly called on the Government to maintain domestic cement and lime production competitiveness and enable the transition to net zero by decarbonisation. Key policy asks include:
- A watertight carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM);
- Urgent clarity on key aspects of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), including free allocation from 2027 onwards;
- Visibility of support for carbon capture beyond the initial Track 1 projects that have been announced including support targeted at dispersed sites in more isolated locations and commitment to support the Peak Cluster (the world’s largest cement and lime carbon capture and storage project that aims to capture over 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually).
MPA is also concerned that the 7th carbon budget assumptions around resource efficiency concerning cement are unrealistic. While MPA members continue to explore options to reduce the carbon intensity of cement and concrete through the use of supplementary cementitious materials, the availability of these alternatives can create complexities, and the changes they bring to the cement and concrete characteristics and performance mean they can’t be used in all applications.
Dr Diana Casey, MPA’s Executive Director for Energy and Climate Change, said: “The CCC have set out a challenging 7th carbon budget which will only be met by taking action now. The Government must urgently implement policies to attract investment to the UK to ensure we have a secure supply of low-carbon cement to meet the UK’s ambitions for economic growth and decarbonisation by 2050.”
