Innovation in Action: China’s Commitment to Climate Solutions Through CCUS

China can often act with a speed of action that can catch your breath. The China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd (CNBM) and its subsidiary the China United Cement Corporation (CUCC), have launched a CCUS demonstration project, a remarkable 16 months from conception to commissioning. It aims to capture 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This drive is why China is amongst the leading nations on the climate innovation front and is so essential to help the world advance these technologies in an effective manner.  

I’ve been in China this week for the China Building Materials Federation (CBMF)’s ‘2025 International Carbon Emissions Reduction Forum of Building Materials Industry’ where the GCCA – Global Cement and Concrete Association was co-organiser and where I had the pleasure to give an opening speech with CBMF President Yan Xiaofeng, and to report about the progress made on CCUS around the world as shown in our technology tracker: https://www.industrytransition.org/green-cement-technology-tracker 

We also brought an international and Chinese delegation to visit two CCUS demonstration projects by BBMG in Beishui, which captures 100kt CO2 per year, and by CUCC in Qingzhou, the first Oxyfuel project in the world, with 200kt capture capacity. 

The country’s transformation is moving at pace and its urbanisation and development in the last five years is extraordinary. But as well as fast growth, the country has shown a serious commitment to work on its environmental performance and to limiting its environmental impact. China led the way globally in the green energy transition in 2024, investing approximately $818 billion USD into green sectors including renewable energy, energy storage, electrified transport, and carbon capture and storage¹. 

China demonstrates the value of innovation, hard work, persistence, strategy, long-term drive as well as being effective in bringing elementary research to real solutions. A key example is the above mentioned CNBM and CUCC CCUS demonstration project. The impact that CCUS is making on the cement plant is fundamental to make net zero a reality. 

While CCUS is our ultimate technology driver after having deployed all other traditional technology levers, we still certainly rely on CCUS to reach net zero at scale. Here, colleagues from China are nurturing a technology that will soon mature and be ready for deployment. Indeed, while we believe our roadmap can be reached with current technologies, we rely on innovations like these ones to make progress and to reduce the cost of CCUS. Innovation is enabling a cheaper and faster deployment. 

Collaboration with China is an important part of the global mission for our industry to achieve its sustainability goals. 

Reference:

[1]https://about.bnef.com/insights/finance/global-investment-in-the-energy-transition-exceeded-2-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-2024-according-to-bloombergnef-report/