The Clinker Factor

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Gigaton (formerly Carbon Re) and WCA Member, talks to Julie Larsen and Roger Hubeli, Co-Principals of APTUM and Associate Professors at Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, about the intersection of architecture, materials research, and innovation in the built environment. Juli...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Markus Kritzler, CEO of Carbon Upcycling, about the changing dynamics of the global cement and materials sector and the growing role of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in industrial decarbonisation. Markus reflects on his route into the cem...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Georg Locher, Technical Director at Schwenk Zement, about the role of oxyfuel technology in decarbonising the cement industry. Georg shares his journey in the sector and how he became closely associated with oxyfuel, offering a clear explanation of the...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to John Kline, Principal at Kline Consulting, LLC, about the forces reshaping the global cement industry. John reflects on his journey in the sector and the key differences he sees across US, European, and global markets. He shares insights into how digit...

In this special International Women’s Day episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Natalija Jovasevic, Sustainability and Communications Officer at the WCA, talks to Buffy Price, Co-Founder of Carbon Re, about leadership, diversity, and the role government must play in supporting industrial AI and climate innovation. The conversation tackles the gender imbalance across the cement industry, explor...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Thomas Petitguenin, CEO of everox, about how circular innovation is redefining the future of concrete. Thomas shares the technology behind everox’s approach, unpacking how concrete waste can be transformed into valuable resources for new construction a...

In our first podcast of 2026, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Ricardo Carvalho, Chief Digital Officer at Secil, about driving digital transformation in cement manufacturing. Ricardo shares his journey into the cement sector and his role leading digital initiatives across Secil’s operations in Portugal, Tunisia, Lebanon, B...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Bengt Steinbrecher, Head of Holcim MAQER Ventures, and Eric Jacobson, CCO of SaltX Technology, to explore how their partnership is driving innovation in low-carbon cement production. They delve into the strategic rationale behind the SaltX–Holcim colla...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Cobi Busst, Senior Consultant at Beaumont Bailey, to unpack the shifting talent landscape in the cement industry. They explore why talent shortages have become so acute, what makes the sector’s challenges unique, and where operational impacts are being...

In this episode of The Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to Suhair Abu Salem, Human Capital & Communication Director at A³&Co. and fellow WCA Member. They explore Suhair’s career journey, discussing her background and experience as a woman in leadership, and what “human capital” really means in practice...

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Guest Host Daniel Summerbell, Co-Founder & Chief Solutions Officer at Carbon Re and WCA Member, talks to David Hughes, Chief Scientific Officer at Material Evolution, to discuss how the company is pioneering ultra-low carbon cement with its patented Alkali Fusion® technology and AI-driven innovation. They go on to cover sourcing industrial waste, performa...

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Gurinder Nagra, Founder of Furno Materials, and Marty Ozinga IV, CEO of Ozinga, about Project OZ, an exciting collaboration between both companies, backed by a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. This innovative project aims to revolutionise cement production by utilising cutting-edge modular kiln technology to significant...

In our first podcast of 2025, Ian Riley talks to Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Partner at Nexus Climate, about the launch of the Industrial Decarbonization AI Coalition (IDAIC) and how it aims to advance the use of artificial intelligence in driving industrial decarbonisation through collaboration with manufacturers, AI startups, and research organisations. 

Join Ian Riley in the second episode of our new mini-series of the Clinker Factor Podcast, where he chats to Tobias Woerner, Managing Director of Equity Research, Building & Construction at Stifel Europe, about the cement industry from an investment perspective. This episode focuses on the differences between the market in Europe and North America.

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Abdelillah Yamoul (Kiln Manager) and Hicham Raji (Quality Manager) of WCA Member Ciments de l’Atlas about the work done to improve performance at its Ben Ahmed Plant which received two awards at this year's WCA Annual Conference: Health and Safety Award & Plant Improvement Project - Special Recognition Award. The implemented practices t...

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Josh Vernon, CEO of Carbon Re and WCA Member, about his background and journey to becoming CEO, and the important role that it's AI-powered solution plays in identifying energy inefficiencies, cutting costs and reducing carbon emissions across the cement industry.

Join Ian Riley in the first episode of our new mini-series of the Clinker Factor Podcast, where he chats to Tobias Woerner, Managing Director of Equity Research, Building & Construction at Stifel Europe, about the cement industry from an investment perspective, earnings of listed companies, M&A activities, and several other market developments. 

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Ben Azoula-Victory, Managing Director of Love Concrete, and Thomas Petithuguenin, CEO of C2CA, about the ConcreteZero initiative from the Climate Group. ConcreteZero is unusual in that it is led by users (developers and contractors) and takes a practical, data driven approach to evaluating low carbon concrete.

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Tang Jun, Vice President of Huaxin Cement Co., Ltd. and WCA Member, about the latest developments at its Kunming Chongde Plant which received this year's WCA Innovation Award for its contribution to the efficiency of cement plants and new practices from which other companies can learn.

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Matthias Mersmann, CTO of KHD Humboldt Wedag, and WCA Member, about the latest developments in cement technology and how the industry is addressing the challenges of climate change.

In the latest episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Fouad Kammoun, Director Sales – Near East, Middle East and Central Asia of Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG, about his experience in the cement industry and the organisation's latest projects in developing carbon capture technology.

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Sam Draper, CEO of Seratech, about Seratech’s technology, business model and whether the technology can be scaled to a size interesting to a cement plant.

In our first podcast of 2024, Ian Riley talks to Thomas Atkinson, Head of International Affairs at Hoffmann Green Cement, about the award winning clinker free technology developed by Hoffmann and their approach to promoting their products directly with developers.

In this episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to both Dr. Andreas Sichert, CEO & Co-founder, and Markus Lintl, Head of Industry & New Business at Orcan Energy AG, about modular WHR and possible application in the cement industry including in decarbonising logistics and the supply chain.  

In the latest episode of the Clinker Factor, Ian Riley talks to Carbon Upcycling Technologies founder and CEO, Apoorv Sinha, about the challenges of running and growing a start up and the use of Carbon Upcycling’s technology to expand the availability as well as the cementitious properties of SCMs.