As part of its strategy to reduce CO2 emissions, Cemex is accelerating its alternative fuels and clinker factor initiatives, while advancing new CO2 reduction measures, such as hydrogen injection.

Overall, in February 2020, Cemex implemented a proactive Climate Action strategy and announced the 2030 goal of reducing its specific net CO2 emissions by 35% compared to the 1990 base, as well as a 2050 goal that its concrete have net zero CO2 emissions in all their operations.

The company is confident in its ability to meet these goals, particularly the 2030 target, for which it relies on already proven technologies and a detailed action plan for each plant.

Already in 2020, Cemex modernized all its plants in Europe to use this technology, which allowed it to achieve a higher rate of alternative fuels and significantly reduce heat consumption. For now, the company is extending hydrogen injection to the rest of its operations.

With the launch of its new Vertua product line, the industry’s first net zero CO2 concrete solution, it made significant progress towards its 2050 goal of having all its net zero CO2 emissions concrete.

The carbon footprint of this product is reduced through the application of new concrete technologies, allowing customers to meet their construction needs with more sustainable products.

Vertua has already been used in large infrastructure projects in Europe and has been well received in Mexico, the United States and South America.

Hydrogen injection

This also occurs in the context of CO2 emission rights (the “Rights”) in the European Union (EU), in accordance with the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), and considering Cemex’s estimates of being ahead of its then goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 in all Cemex cement plants in Europe, compared to the emissions base in 1990.

Also, there is the expectation of offering concrete with zero CO2 emissions for all products and geographies by 2050, as well as innovative technologies and considerable capital investments that must be made, during the second half of March 2021.

To achieve these objectives, through different transactions, Cemex sold 12.3 million Rights for approximately 509 million euros (approximately 600 million dollars), which had accumulated at the end of phase III of compliance under the EU ETS, the which ended on December 31, 2020.

Perspective

To date, Cemex considers that it still retains sufficient Rights to cover the requirements of its operations in Europe until at least the end of 2025 under phase IV of the EU ETS, which began on January 1, 2021 and will last until January 31, December 2030.

In addition, Cemex estimates that this transaction will improve its ability to continue making the necessary investments to achieve its CO2 emission reduction objectives, which include, among others:

• The process of switching from fossil fuels to lower carbon alternatives.
• Achieve efficiencies in energy use.
• Supply of alternative raw materials that help reduce total carbon emissions or use of clinker.
• Development and promotion of products with lower CO2 emissions.
• The recent development of innovative hydrogen technologies in all the company’s furnaces in Europe.

Cemex also works in collaboration with alliances to develop technologies on an industrial scale towards its goal of a future with zero carbon emissions.