After water, concrete is the most used material on Earth. Its main ingredient, cement, has a significant environmental footprint, accounting for 8% of global CO2 emissions – more than three times the emissions produced by aviation. Rapid reductions are needed to get on track with our shared climate goals.
of global emissions
of emissions come from clinker
rise in demand by 2050
Existing alternative solutions
We need to ensure both standards and policies foster innovations for cement decarbonisation. Ordinary Portland cement clinker is far from irreplaceable - safe and cost-effective low-carbon solutions exist and can be scaled up rapidly.
Found in large volumes, especially in specific geographical locations (e.g. volcanic regions), and their processing is straightforward.
While traditional clinker substitutes such as fly ashes or GGBS are still highly relevant, they are complemented with a growing number of other substitutes, including EAF slags, non-ferro slags and ground glass.
Very promising, in particular in areas with large ceramics industries and existing stockpiles of suitable clays.
Recent improvements in crushing, sieving and activation technologies allow for the recycling of high levels of (un)bound cement particles.
Alternative binders, including geopolymers and biobased solutions, replace the need for Portland clinker altogether, relying on different set of raw materials and binding chemistries.
To help achieve the 2040 goal, and reach long-term sustainability far beyond 2050, we foresee the following milestones:
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The Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement and Concrete is ready to take on the challenge of increasing the rollout of existing solutions!
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Our Alliance aims to shape the policy, legislative, standardisation, and financing foundations necessary to make low-carbon cement and concrete the norm.
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