Identifying Improvement Potentials in Cement Production with Life Cycle Assessment
- 3 November 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Environmental Science & Technology
- Vol. 44 (23), 9143-9149
- https://doi.org/10.1021/es100771k
Abstract
Cement production is an environmentally relevant process responsible for 5% of total anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and 7% of industrial fuel use. In this study, life cycle assessment is used to evaluate improvement potentials in the cement production process in Europe and the USA. With a current fuel substitution rate of 18% in Europe and 11% in the USA, both regions have a substantial potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save virgin resources by further increasing the coprocessing of waste fuels. Upgrading production technology would be particularly effective in the USA where many kiln systems with very low energy efficiency are still in operation. Using best available technology and a thermal substitution rate of 50% for fuels, greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 9% for Europe and 18% for the USA per tonne of cement. Since clinker production is the dominant pollution producing step in cement production, the substitution of clinker with mineral components such as ground granulated blast furnace slag or fly ash is an efficient measure to reduce the environmental impact. Blended cements exhibit substantially lower environmental footprints then Portland cement, even if the substitutes feature lower grindability and require additional drying and large transport distances. The highest savings in CO2 emissions and resource consumption are achieved with a combination of measures in clinker production and cement blending.Keywords
This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Environmental Assessment of Waste‐Solvent Treatment OptionsJournal of Industrial Ecology, 2008
- Applying cumulative exergy demand (CExD) indicators to the ecoinvent databaseThe International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2006
- Green chemistry for sustainable cement production and useGreen Chemistry, 2006
- End life tyres: Alternative final disposal processes compared by LCAEnergy, 2004
- Industrially interesting approaches to “low-CO2” cementsCement and Concrete Research, 2004
- Comparative analysis of available life cycle inventories of cement in the EUCement and Concrete Research, 2004
- Life Cycle Inventory for Use of Waste Solvent as Fuel Substitute in the Cement Industry - A Multi-Input Allocation Model (11 pp)The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2004
- Cement Manufacture and the Environment Part II: Environmental Challenges and OpportunitiesJournal of Industrial Ecology, 2003
- CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM THE GLOBAL CEMENT INDUSTRYAnnual Review of Energy and the Environment, 2001
- Potentials for energy efficiency improvement in the US cement industryEnergy, 2000