THE RACE FOR Carbon Neutral Construction
Cement holds the building and construction industry together. Globally, the cement market is worth around £100bn and the industry supplies 2.9bn tonnes of cement to support global economic development every year. This is set to grow to 5bn tonnes a year by 2030, mainly due to rapidly increasing development needs in India and China.
However, the environmental impact of this huge industry is equally significant. Figures show the cement industry contributes 5 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions, making it one of the biggest polluters. Cement plants are large CO2 sources, producing 1-3 megatonnes
per year, equivalent to around half the emissions of a medium coal-fired power station. Mitigating emissions in the cement industry needs to be an important part of any overall strategy to meet global emission reduction targets.
The production of 1,000 kg of cement emits approximately 800kg of CO2, 50 per cent comes from the release of CO2 bound to the main raw material limestone; 40 percent from the combustion of fossil fuels needed for the main chemical reaction and the remainder from electricity use and transport.
In an effort to reduce emissions, the cement industry is working to adapt its processes. This includes the reduction of clinker (by partially replacing it with materials such as slag, limestone and fly ashes); the partial use of alternative fuels; and energy efficiency techniques. Yet all of these steps to address environmental impact will only have incremental impact on the cement industry’s emissions.
Novacem’s Solution Novacem is developing a solution, which has the potential to significantly reduce the cement industry’s CO2 output. The company is currently using Digital Prototyping software from leading vendor Autodesk, including, most prominently, the AutoCAD Plant 3D solution, to help it achieve its goals.
The firm, which was launched in 2007 as a spin-out from Imperial College, London, is developing a carbon negative cement and related cement-making process, which has the potential to revolutionise the industry. Novacem was recently listed on the Global Cleantech 100, drawn up by the Cleantech Group in conjunction with a 60-person international panel of experts to highlight the most promising private clean technology companies from around the world.
Meeting the Challenge The emissions from the present cement industry, based on the production of Portland Cement, arise from two principal sources. Firstly, calcination of limestone (Calcium Carbonate) releases the carbon stored in the limestone. Secondly, the energy needed to achieve the necessary temperature (c. 1,400o C) and to grind the clinker produced by calcination requires significant amounts of fossil fuel.
20 entrepreneurcountry
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