Feds give $10M to Canada's first carbon capture cement plant

National Observer

2 days ago

Canada's first commercial carbon capture cement facility is now under construction in Mississauga Ont., backed by $10 million in federal funding. The project is part of the country's effort to reduce industrial emissions.
The project, led by Calgary-based startup Carbon Upcycling in partnership with Ash Grove Cement, aims to capture carbon dioxide from cement production and turn it into a low-carbon material that can replace part of traditional cement.
Evan Solomon, Canada's minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, attended the event and told Canada's National Observer carbon capture storage will play an important role in achieving a net-zero future. He said the Carbon Upcycling project is an example of the kind of Canadian innovation needed to stay competitive while cutting emissions.
'These collaborative projects highlight the power of innovation to drive real progress — helping Canada's manufacturers thrive while supporting our climate goals and enhancing our global competitiveness,' the minister said.
The facility will use Carbon Upcycling's technology to mix captured CO2 with steel byproducts like slag to create a powder similar to cement used in construction. Carbon Upcycling CEO Apoorv Sinha told Canada's National Observer the system could reduce emissions from cement by up to 40 per cent. Once operational in 2026, it's expected to remove 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year — roughly the same as taking cars off the road annually.
The federal government has made carbon capture a key part of its net-zero strategy. It offers tax credits covering up to 60 per cent of project costs and has launched programs to buy carbon removal services. Still, critics argue that funding high-cost, underperforming technologies may divert resources away from more proven solutions such as electrification, renewable energy and nature-based carbon storage.
Sinha said this is the first time the technology is being fully integrated into a working cement plant in Canada. The company has demonstration sites in Calgary, and if the Mississauga plant performs well, it could be replicated globally at thousands of other cement plants, he added.
The facility will use Carbon Upcycling's technology to mix captured CO2 with steel byproducts like slag to create a powder similar to cement used in construction.
Sinha said the new facility will store up to 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide in every tonne of low-carbon cement it produces. Instead of burying the emissions, the carbon stays in building materials used in homes, roads and other infrastructure. The end product has market value, making it a more practical and scalable solution, he added.
Sinha said the project's total cost is around $35 million, funded by Carbon Upcycling, its private partners and the federal government.
New technology with caveats
Cement production makes up about 1.5 per cent of Canada's emissions and up to eight per cent globally, prompting international efforts to cut pollution from the global concrete sector — a market worth more than $75 billion.
Supporters say technologies such as carbon capture and utilization (CCU) are essential for meeting net-zero targets, especially in hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement. But while the Mississauga project is a first for Canada, the broader carbon capture sector still faces growing skepticism.
— the world's largest direct air capture (DAC) plant — showed it captured only 105 tonnes of carbon dioxide in its first year, far below its 36,000-tonne target. The Icelandic facility uses different technology than the kind of carbon capture at work in Mississauga, but analysts say this highlights the high cost and technical challenges of scaling up carbon removal technologies.
In Canada, seven carbon capture and storage projects are currently operating, capturing just 0.5 per cent of national emissions. Many of these projects are linked to the oil and gas industry and depend heavily on public funding. Research from the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Canadian Climate Institute suggests that carbon capture and utilization is too expensive, slow and energy-intensive to significantly help meet 2030 climate goals.
Carbon capture and storage 'may play an important role in hard-to-decarbonize industrial sectors such as cement and steel, where substitute materials or fully matured decarbonization technologies are not yet available or fully developed,' reads the report. 'Although the high costs and potential limitations to effectiveness should not be overlooked.'
Canada is also investing in other large-scale initiatives, such as Heidelberg Materials' $275-million zero-carbon cement project in Edmonton, which is expected to capture one million tonnes of carbon dioxideCO₂ annually — nearly 95 per cent of that facility's emissions.
Solomon acknowledged that carbon capture has faced criticism but stressed that the only way to improve it is through continued investment and strong public-private partnerships. Using the technology, refining it and setting clear standards are key to making it work, he added.
'Clean technology, including carbon capture, will play an integral role in our efforts to decarbonize. Projects such as this one present significant economic opportunity for Canadian industry in clean technology, clean energy and decarbonization,' said Julie Dabrusin, Canada's minister of environment and climate change, in a statement. 'We will continue to work with partners across sectors to accelerate the adoption of this kind of technology and ensure Canada is a global leader in carbon capture investments.'