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ABB releases whitepaper on decarbonizing the cement industry

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – ABB has launched a white paper detailing challenges the global cement industry faces in decarbonizing operations in line with global emissions reduction targets. 

Cement plays a critical role as a fundamental material in modern construction. The current manufacturing process is energy-intensive and dependent on fossil fuels – contributing to approximately seven per cent of global carbon emissions. 

Including insights from key industry players, including customers, technology partners, industry media and associations with ABB’s domain expertise, the whitepaper explores cement’s sustainable future. It also details the benefits of advanced electrification used in tandem with technologies adopted through industry collaborations.

The white paper also includes discussions around how sustainable cement could be defined and practical advice on what steps producers can take in their decarbonization journey. Lafarge Canada is one of the key players taking a step in the sustainable direction with ABB. On Nov. 1, Lafarge Canada announced its partnership with ABB to modernize its cement plant operations for more sustainable production. ABB’s upgraded process control system at Bath will enable ongoing energy-savings and optimization opportunities for the Lafarge operations team while ensuring seamless plant operations on a day-to-day basis. 

As discussed in the whitepaper, electrification is a major component in the decarbonization of the cement industry, with the ability to replace fossil fuel burners with electrified, or zero-carbon solutions. These are predicted to help significantly reduce emissions in line with industry ambitions.

“No single player in the value chain has all the answers to cement production decarbonization, which is why sharing cross-industry insight is critical to achieving a sustainable future,” said Bodil Recke, global manager for Business Unit Cement, ABB Process Industries. 

The white paper also reaffirms ABB’s ambition to enable customers to avoid 600 megatons of CO2 equivalent emissions through products and solutions sold from 2022 to 2030. In the cement industry, ABB’s Real Progress initiative embodies a holistic approach, targeting the entire value chain to lower material use, cut reliance on fossil fuels, minimize waste, enable circularity and extend the life of assets.

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