The cement industry decreases its carbon footprint
The WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) has released figures with show that the world’s leading cement companies have managed to cut their CO2 emissions by as much as 14.3 percent between 1990 and 2008 and 3.8 percent between 2005 and 2008 with the help of Energy savings companies. Total CO2 emissions in absolute terms fell to 19 million tonnes from 2007 to 2008, to a figure of 577 million tonnes. The WBCSD attributes this reduction to a fall in construction and economic activity; however the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) demonstrated how this was also as a result of the increasing usage of alternative fuels, modern mixing techniques and more efficient cement kilns. The CSI data includes over 900 production centres across the globe and includes figures from 46 different cement producers. Its database, ‘Getting The Numbers Right’ (GNR) is an independent, voluntary energy performance scheme which supplies annual data for the cement industry.
Predictions are that cement production will increase two fold within the next two decades as emerging economies such as India and China experience an industrial revolution. Many developing countries are experience a boom in infrastructure and building projects, all of which require the cement industry. China already accounts for almost half of the world’s total cement production and has managed to reduce its net emissions substantially as a result of modern kiln replacement techniques. In fact, technologies in this country are some of the most advanced on the globe, says Dr Howard Klee, who is the CSI’s programme director The most thermally reliable plants are located in India, while the countries using the highest number of alternative fossil fuels are located in Europe. The current figures are based on cement production data for 2008 and there is a 12 month restriction on releasing data to abide with anti-trust regulations.
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