BCA: Cement Industry Makes Sustainable Development Progress

November 13, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

In response to a report in the Guardian newspaper, Mike Gilbert, BCA chief executive said, "The U.K. cement industry is not an 'obstacle' to a low carbon economy, but an essential component."

Since 1990, U.K. cement manufacturers have reduced their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 29%, saving more than 3.9 million tonnes of CO2. Cement manufacture accounts for 1.76% of total U.K. CO2 emissions, according to Gilbert.

U.K. cement manufacturers are committed to global sector carbon reductions through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative and its 2002 Agenda for Action.

The cement industry has reduced its environmental impact through a number of initiatives, such as the replacement of primary raw materials and fossil fuels by processing wastes and by-products from other industries into alternative raw materials or fuels for use in the cement kiln.

These initiatives, coupled with investment in both modern kilns and energy efficient technologies, have resulted in a 27.5% fall in energy use since 1990. In 2006, the cement industry used more than 1.1 million tonnes of waste which otherwise would have gone to landfill or incineration, BCA said.

The cement industry is working with the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the application of carbon capture and storage to cement manufacture, a report on which is due to be published in November.

Because 60% of industry's emissions are derived from the cement manufacturing process, efforts are being made to improve the substitution rate of fossil fuels with waste-derived alternatives. The U.K. has reduced its fossil fuel usage 23% since 1998; in 2006 waste-derived fuels made up 15% of the fuel used in U.K. cement kilns.

According to BCA, cement is the principal ingredient in concrete, upon which the U.K. depends on to build and maintain homes, schools, offices, shops, hospitals, roads and transport infrastructure, water, energy utilities and flood defences.

Concrete is a sustainable building material. Concrete buildings are adaptable to changing climatic conditions.

BCA said that 90% of the environmental impact of CO2 associated with buildings arises during their operational lifetime from heating, lighting and cooling. With temperatures forecast to rise in the coming years, concrete offers thermal mass properties:

• Can absorb heat in high temperatures and release it again when the temperature drops
• Reduced energy needed for cooling.
• Saving CO2 emissions over the building's lifetime.

At present some 27% of the U.K.'s CO2 emissions arise from the energy used to heat, light and cool residential properties. This figure rises to 50% for all properties.

Source: British Cement Association (BCA).