Spain's cement industry in drive to reduce CO2 emissions 80% by 2050

According to a new report by Oficemen, the Spanish cement industry is undertaking steps to reduce its CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 when compared with 1990 as base year. In its “Roadmap of the Spanish cement industry for the reduction of carbon emissions by 2050”.

Conventional means such as increased energy efficiency and co-processing will enable the sector to reduce its CO2 footprint by 35 per cent compared to the base year. The roadmap foresees improvements in thermal efficiency from 3350MJ/t clinker in 2020 to 3.325MJ/t clinker in 2030. Further advances would take thermal efficiency down to 3200MJ/t clinker by 2050.

The use of alternative materials in clinker production has risen to 6-8 per cent in recent years and Oficemen is keen to further support research into alternative materials. The Spanish cement industry also has further potential in the use of alternative fuels, particularly when compared with the rest of Europe, where substitution rates are as high of 80 per cent. Therefore, Oficemen expects to raise alternative fuel use to increase to 30 per cent in 2020, and further to 45 per cent in 2030. Additional targets have been set for 2040 and 2050, when alternative fuel use is expected to reach 60 and 70 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, new technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) are expected to further reduce CO2 emission by 80 per cent by 2050. However, as a part of CO2 emissions is unavoidable the role played by CCS technologies becomes fundamental. It is not expected that these will become technically viable before 2030 as currently, the use of CCS technology is forecast to raise production costs between 25-100 per cent as well as requiring significant investment and a considerable increase in power consumption.