Assessment of decarbonisation strategies for the UK cement and concrete sector within the context of energy intensive industries

Cement and concrete are fundamental to the UK’s built environment, yet their production is intrinsically carbon intensive, accounting for 1.5% of the country’s CO₂ emissions (MPA, 2020). To comply with global and national net-zero targets, the UK cement and concrete sector is implementing and exploring a wide range of different decarbonisation strategies. While government and industry decarbonisation roadmaps provide an optimistic outlook into the future of sustainable cement and concrete, there is significant uncertainty regarding the feasibility of achieving net-zero targets. Life cycle assessment (LCA), the most commonly used methodology to assess a process or product’s environmental impact, is fragmented despite standardisation. Decarbonisation roadmaps heavily rely on strategies that have little existing market precedence. Cross-sectoral interdependencies, such as those between steel and cement, have also introduced additional uncertainty as materials critical to cement decarbonisation may no longer be available.

The aim of this study is to assess how the UK cement and concrete sector can realistically achieve Net Zero 2050 by reviewing current standardised LCA practices in academic literature, identifying viable decarbonisation pathways, and analysing cross-sector impacts. Findings indicate that net-zero by 2050 is achievable but not guaranteed. Greater methodological and data transparency in LCA studies is essential to ensure its effectiveness as a decision-making tool. Low-maturity decarbonisation strategies could abate up to 3.4 Mt CO₂/yr but face significant financial and resource barriers, while optimising existing strategies could abate 4.7 Mt CO₂/yr. Together, these approaches would still require a 43% reduction in material demand for the sector to reach net-zero. Cross-sector collaboration is also critical. The UK steel sector’s transition to greener production routes could lower its carbon footprint by 84% but at the cost of slag cement shortage, increasing the sector’s reliance on imports. To avoid cross-sector decoupling, the UK cement sector must match the steel sector’s rate of decarbonisation.