World Cement Podcast

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, David Bizley is joined by Martin Casey Senior Director for Cement & Lime at the Mineral Products Association (MPA) to explore the challenges and opportunities facing UK cement producers.

Topics covered in this episode include:

• The State of the UK Cement sector
• The energy price challenge
• CBAM – what’s in store for UK producers?
• The impact of imports
• The future of CCS in the UK

[Note: This episode was recorded in September, so some statements regarding policy, etc., may no longer be 100% accurate.]

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This episode of the World Cement Podcast returns to the AI-focused Panel discussion from EnviroTech 2026. Join us once again for the second half of a wide-ranging discussion on the exciting frontier technologies shaping the future of the cement industry.

Listen in once more as Senior Editor, David Bizley, put questions to three AI experts: Vivek Juneja, Head of Engineering – Cement, alcemy; Noah Miller, COO, Gigaton, and Scott Ziegler, CEO, CemAI.

So settle in and enjoy the episode as our expert panel explores the role of AI in transforming the cement industry.

With World Cement’s Optimisation 2026 virtual conference on the horizon, it seemed like a good opportunity for this episode of the World Cement Podcast to takes a look back at the AI panel discussion from EnviroTech 2026. This wide-ranging discussion sees Senior Editor, David Bizley, put questions to three AI experts: Vivek Juneja, Head of Engineering – Cement, alcemy; Noah Miller, COO, Gigaton, and Scott Ziegler, CEO, CemAI.

So settle in and enjoy the episode as our expert panel explores the role of AI in transforming the cement industry.

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, David Bizley is joined by Ryan Gilliam, CEO and Co-Founder of Fortera to explore the technical and commercial challenges involved in building a successful low-carbon cement company.

Topics covered include:

• The importance of standards and the challenge of meeting them
• Dispelling negative assumptions around low-carbon products
• The hardest part about building a low-carbon cement company
• Who is driving demand for low-carbon products
• And more!

If you enjoy this episode of the World Cement Podcast then please make sure to like, leave a review of the episode and subscribe if you haven’t already done so!

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, David Bizley is joined by Justin Dickey of Cemex and Randy Kirchain of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub to explore the emerging era of hyperscale infrastructure as the demand for AI (and the vast datacentres that power it) continues to grow.

Topics covered in this issue include:

• The unprecedented demand for hyperscale infrastructure
• Achieving precision at scale
• Balancing strict environmental demands with tight deadlines
• Collaboration between owners, designers, contractors, and suppliers.

As always, if you like the episode, please make sure to rate, review and subscribe!

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, Senior Editor David Bizley is joined by Robert Christinger, Head of Automation at Vigier Ciment and Thierry Obédé, Chief Revenue Officer ANYbotics to explore the role of autonomous robots in cement plant operations.

Topics covered in this issue:

• Origins of the collaboration
• The roles for robots in cement
• Man vs. Machine – keeping personnel invested and engaged with new technologies
• Data management and making effective use of gathered data
• Advice to other cement producers still on the fence about adopting new technologies

As always, if you like the episode, please make sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, David Bizley is joined by Professor Theo Hanein (Chair of Construction Materials Science) and Dr Wafaa Borja (Research Fellow) at Leeds University’s school of civil engineering. And the topic? BCSA cements and the work being done at Leeds university to transform them from a product reserved for niche applications into a more mainstream alternative to Portland cement that can play a role in decarbonising the cement and construction sectors.

Topics covered include:

• The basics of BCSA cement
• Comparisons with OPC
• Use cases
• Challenges to adoption
• The role of policy in enabling usage of novel cements

As always, if you like the episode, please make sure to rate, review and subscribe!
 

In this follow-up episode, we dive back into the closing CCUS panel discussion that took place at this year’s EnviroTech in London. With the aim of exploring the ins-and-outs of CCUS, with a particular focus on upcoming projects in the UK, Senior Editor, David Bizley, was joined on stage by: Rachel Sutton, Interim CEO of Peak Cluster, Tolga Timirci, Head of Global CCUS Projects at Heidelberg Materials, and Tom Redfern, Head of Sustainability at Holcim UK.

Last episode included an introduction to the Peak Cluster project and the general environment surrounding CCUS in the UK. In this episode, we dive into the second-half of the discussion which was based around questions from our combined EnviroTech and World Pipelines CCS Forum audiences.

And if you missed the first half of this two-parter, make sure to check it out along with other episodes in our back catalogue.

 This episode of the World Cement Podcast is a little different from the usual as it’s the first of a two-parter where we take a look back at the closing CCUS panel discussion from this year’s EnviroTech conference. 

With EnviroTech 2026 taking place in London, this year’s CCUS panel discussion placed a special focus on projects taking place in the UK, like Hynet and Peak Cluster. 

To give our audience insight into these projects, Senior Editor, David Bizley, put questions to a panel of experts: Rachel Sutton, Interim CEO of Peak Cluster, Tolga Timirci, Head of Global CCUS Projects at Heidelberg Materials, and Tom Redfern, Head of Sustainability at Holcim UK. 

This first episode includes an introduction to the Peak Cluster project and a discussion the surrounding the challenges and opportunities facing CCUS in the UK. 

Stay tuned for part two where we take questions from the EnviroTech and World Pipelines CCS Forum audiences.

In this episode of the World Cement Podcast, Senior Editor David Bizley is joined by Professor Leon Black of the University of Leeds to discuss the Safe, Sustainable, and Swift Reconstruction of Ukraine (S3RoU) project which is working to help rebuild the country as Russia’s illegal invasion stretches on past its four year anniversary.

Topics covered include:

• The development of a novel concrete recycling technology
• The challenges of deployment.
• The potential for rolling out the process elsewhere.

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to like, review and subscribe. Make sure to check out our back catalogue of episodes, featuring insightful interviews with a range of experts and leaders from across the cement industry.