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A new report has found that cement is responsible 8 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and warn that the process of making cement is a serious environmental concern that needs to be overhauled.
One of the world’s largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions is one many people don’t even think about – cement. But a new study coming out of think tank Chatham House has found that cement has a massive carbon footprint.
Cement is one of the highest producers of carbon dioxide emissions in the world.
Contributing 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions, places cement not far behind agriculture – which is responsible for 12%. In terms of a carbon footprint, aviation fuel only contributes 2.5%.
Environmentalists say that reducing the use fossil fuels is not enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the environment. They point to the large CO2 footprint in the process of making cement, stating drastically needs to be overhauled.
Cement is the key ingredient in concrete, which is the most widely used man-made material in existence. Put another way, there is only one other resource on Earth in use more than cement – water.
As the rise of the world’s buildings is expected to double in the next forty years, cement production is expected to increase by 25 percent by 2030.
If we imagined that cement were a country, it would rank as the third largest emitter of CO2 among nations. And among nations, countries producing the most cement, logically, produce the most cement-related carbon dioxide emissions.
China currently leads the world in cement production, but has been tapering off and their production is expected to decline, or at least level off. China produced over 1500 million metric tons of CO2 emissions due to cement production in 2017. India was next at about 700 million metric tons. They were followed by the EU, Turkey and Egypt.
Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, which are experiencing rapid urbanization and economic development, are the next areas of the world where concrete production is expected to increase.
