Waste heat recovery represents a significant opportunity for cement producers to improve plant efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint. This article looks at several proven technologies for capturing and utilising waste heat, and explores additional pathways for industry decarbonisation through sector coupling. By Siemens Energy, USA.
In 2021, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), whose members comprise 80 per cent of the global cement industry outside of China, published a formal roadmap for achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The roadmap establishes an intermediate target of cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25 per cent by 2030.1
Achieving this goal will require aggressive action from producers in the next 2-3 years. The cement industry is the third-largest industrial energy consumer and accounts for around 25 per cent of industrial CO2 emissions globally.2 Only the steel industry has a higher carbon footprint.
