«Environmental impacts and decarbonization strategies in the cement and concrete industries» in «Nature review Earth and environment»

Prof. Habert and colleagues from UC Davis, UC Berkley, Uni. Sao Paulo, Uni. Sheffield and EPFL have published «Environmental impacts and decarbonization strategies in the cement and concrete industries» in «Nature Reviews Earth & Environment»

In this paper, they show how large-scale replacement of cement by other materials is not possible within the next decade. Nevertheless, through the review of all existing technologies, they point out that 50% reductions in CO2 emissions are still possible through improvements across the full cement and concrete value chain. Indeed, by engaging all stakeholders in the construction sector, immediate savings approximately 50% could be reached without heavy investment in new industrial infrastructure or modification of existing standards.
On a longer-term perspective, research and development on alternative solutions should be pursued in order to be fully implemented for a post-2050 construction industry.
This paper paves the way towards viable and realistic roadmap for decarbonization of cement and concrete industries.
(Further readings external page https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0093-3).
 

cement value chain
The cement value chain. Source: Habert, G., Miller, S.A., John, V.M. et al. Environmental impacts and decarbonization strategies in the cement and concrete industries. Nat Rev Earth Environ (2020).

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