HEAVYSIDE
GLOBAL ACTION TO REDUCE CEMENT AND CONCRETE CO2
Forty leading manufacturers have joined forces and are pledging to cut CO2 emissions by a further 25% by 2030.
T
he Global Cement and Concrete Association, which includes counts companies such as CEMEX, CNBM, CRH, HeidelbergCement, Holcim and Votorantim as members, has published a roadmap, detailing its members’ commitment to net zero concrete by 2050 as well as the intermediate goal of preventing 5 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030. The roadmap features a seven-point plan that seeks to cut the amount of CO2intensive clinker in cement, significantly
reduce fossil fuel use in manufacturing, and accelerate innovation in products, process efficiency and breakthrough technologies including carbon capture. The report points out that the cement industry was the first sector to monitor and publicly report its CO2 emissions on a global level, something it has been doing for the last 20 years. Over the past three decades, the industry has reduced its emissions proportionately by around a fifth, mainly through clinker substitution and fuel side measures.
The roadmap also shows how concrete production has advanced in the past three decades. Investment in mixing equipment, control and quality systems and new admixtures are amongst the developments which have enabled concrete manufacturers to produce concrete more efficiently. There has also been a steady shift in some emerging economies from producing concrete on small project sites using bagged cement to utilising factory production of ready mixed or precast concrete. In developed economies digitisation is now being introduced. Amongst the benefits of all these advancements is a reduction of CO2 footprint for equivalent performing concretes.
In the key decade to 2030, the roadmap
commits the global manufacturers to increasing clinker substitution – including with fly ash, calcined clays, ground granulated blast-furnace slag (ggbs), and ground limestone, as well as increasing the use of alternative fuels and improving efficiency in concrete production In addition, the roadmap promises the members will strive for and collaborate in establishing a policy framework to achieve net zero concrete.
It is critical that the required breakthrough technologies are brought forward in order that the industry be ready for commercial scale deployment by the end of the decade. Members of the Global Cement and Concrete Association are investing and researching into alternatives to Portland clinker cements, however a more important component will be Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). The roadmap points out that not all changes require investment, and some can even reduce costs - reducing the quantities of raw materials through improved design processes, use of reprocessed and recycled material, through re-use of elements, and extending the lifetime of whole projects. Thomas Guillot, GCCA Chief Executive, said: “We now need governments around the world to work with us and use their huge procurement power to advocate for low carbon concrete in their infrastructure and housing needs.” BMJ
28
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net November 2021
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