The cement industry does nothing to reduce its CO2 emissions
False. The cement industry, responsible for about 5-6% of global CO2 emissions, is constantly investing in technologies and solutions to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the mitigation of its effects related to climate change. Buzzi Unicem is formally committed to achieving the net zero goal by 2050 through a Roadmap that provides for the following decarbonisation levers:
- Reduction of the amount of clinker (which determines about 2/3 of carbon dioxide emissions) per unit of cement with alternative materials (slag, pozzolana, fly ash, limestone and calcined clays) and consequent evolution of the product range;
- Use of raw materials already decarbonated in the production of clinker and cements, that do not emit CO2;
- Improvement of the thermal and electrical efficiency of its plants, reducing both costs and direct and indirect CO2 emissions;
- Use of recovered fuels, containing biomass, to replace fossil fuels;
- Use of transition fossil fuels, which emit a lower amount of CO2 (eg. natural gas);
- Push to improve the methods of cement use by its customers, to reduce the dosages in the concrete manufactured (efficiency of cement in concrete);
- More consciousness and integration with the construction supply chain to improve the performance of product design and innovation, in favor of increasing buildings environmental performance and lower environmental impact, optimize construction spaces and, ultimately, use less materials, reaching even so the same design objective;
- Applied research on new hydraulic binders derived from the production of special clinkers with lower emissions;
- Active research and dedicated projects on CO2 capture and reuse systems like the Cleanker project (www.cleanker.eu) and Catch4Climate;
- Recarbonation of concrete.