The California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) is a non-profit that, among other things, seeks to reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality....
The California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) is a non-profit that, among other things, seeks to reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality. Globally, cement production makes up about 8% of emissions (3x that of aviation). The most recent issue of their environmental plan (July 19, 2023) lays out a template for California cement businesses to reach carbon neutrality by 2045.
I'm not holding my breath on this one. "Carbon neutrality" is an unspecific marketing phrase and companies really aren't interested in making expensive changes to their processes by themselves. The government basically always has to force them to do it. However, the CNCA is taking substantive action to enact legislation that does a lot of this work:
The state adopted Senate Bill 596 [Becker 2021], which directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to create a strategy for removing barriers to decarbonization and achieving net carbon neutrality in the state's cement industry. This bill was a collaborative effort between Senator Josh Becker, environmental NGO the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and CNCA.
The law requires the state to develop a plan by July 1, 2023 to reduce the cement industry's carbon output 40% below 2019 levels by 2035. By 2028, the state must "evaluate the feasibility of these interim targets and authorize the state board to adjust the targets upwards or downwards, as provided, to achieve these goals." It's all a bit wishy-washy, but the CNCA's plan (which is not the same as the state's plan) can give us some insight into how that much actually be achieved.
The CNCA's plan describes three categories of emissions related to the creation of cement: process emissions, combustion emissions, and electricity generation. It offers a few "levers" that can be figuratively pulled to abate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (page 5):
Using blended cements (near-term): 10–50% GHG abatement potential
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) (long-term): >50% abatement potential
Alternative cements and clinkers** (long-term): <10% potential
Renewable natural gas (mid-term): 20–40% potential, additively
The document goes into significantly more depth about these potential pathways.
Process emissions are probably the most significant contributor to the industry's emissions: inherently, the way that limestone is chemically treated to create cement releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This apparently makes up more than half of the industry's total emissions and represents a "wall" hampering environmental improvements. There are possibilities here, they just require research and funding.
Combustion emissions represent about a third of industry emissions and are mostly related to two factors: "the energy efficient of the cement production process and the GHG emissions intensity of its fuel mix." That is, technological improvements to efficiency can help, as can more efficient and more environmentally fuels.
Electricity emissions make up less than 10% of the industry's GHG emissions, but changes in the sourcing of electricity from fossil fuels to renewable methods like wind and solar will still reduce the industry's overall footprint.
In short, this is primarily a scientific and technical challenge. Nationally, it's also a political challenge as many companies are uninterested in environmental sustainability for its own sake. However, California is a leader in environmental sustainability in the United States, and perhaps the only reason the "stakeholders" in the CNCA include cement companies themselves is because they'd rather they have a say in the legislation that will inevitably be created to regulate their emissions. It's safe to say that the country's most populous state will have a major effect on the technologies and methodologies used by cement manufacturers in many other states as well.
Unsurprising that a post about cement got 5 votes. But still... 8% of global carbon emissions from a single industry. It's actually a big deal! I literally cannot find the state-issued plan for...
Unsurprising that a post about cement got 5 votes. But still... 8% of global carbon emissions from a single industry. It's actually a big deal!
I literally cannot find the state-issued plan for decarbonization by 2045 that, according to SB 596 (Becker 2021), was due by July 1, 2023. I don't think it exists publicly (or at all?). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has a page on their website about the Net-Zero Emissions Strategy for the Cement Sector, but the last time it was updated was for a workshop that took place on May 31, 2023. The "Presentations" link connected to this workshop contains a PDF labeled "SB 596 second workshop CARB staff" (filename "SB 596 2ND WORKSHOP FINAL.PDF") which states, among other things, the following timeline:
Summer 2023: Develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve netzero emissions for cement used within California by 2045
2028: Assess the feasibility of achieving the interim targets
2035: Interim targets (40% below the 2019 average GHG intensity)
2045: Net-zero emissions for cement use in California
They say that staff are "working to develop a comprehensive strategy" and that a "[r]esearch contract with UC Davis is nearing completion." I assume this the reason for the delay is somehow related to the research being done at the university. It appears that they are still discussing what the definition of "cement" is. I guess there's a reason these things take a while. From an engineering standpoint, this does appear to be a hideously complicated problem.
Page 28 of the presentation states that CARB will produce a "draft comprehensive strategy" in Q3 2023 and produce a "comprehensive strategy" in Q4 2023. Late late late. I'm sure all of my fellow cement enthusiasts on Tildes are really wringing their hands over this one. I heartily look forward to its publication.
The California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) is a non-profit that, among other things, seeks to reduce the construction industry's carbon footprint and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality. Globally, cement production makes up about 8% of emissions (3x that of aviation). The most recent issue of their environmental plan (July 19, 2023) lays out a template for California cement businesses to reach carbon neutrality by 2045.
I'm not holding my breath on this one. "Carbon neutrality" is an unspecific marketing phrase and companies really aren't interested in making expensive changes to their processes by themselves. The government basically always has to force them to do it. However, the CNCA is taking substantive action to enact legislation that does a lot of this work:
The law requires the state to develop a plan by July 1, 2023 to reduce the cement industry's carbon output 40% below 2019 levels by 2035. By 2028, the state must "evaluate the feasibility of these interim targets and authorize the state board to adjust the targets upwards or downwards, as provided, to achieve these goals." It's all a bit wishy-washy, but the CNCA's plan (which is not the same as the state's plan) can give us some insight into how that much actually be achieved.
The CNCA's plan describes three categories of emissions related to the creation of cement: process emissions, combustion emissions, and electricity generation. It offers a few "levers" that can be figuratively pulled to abate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (page 5):
The document goes into significantly more depth about these potential pathways.
Process emissions are probably the most significant contributor to the industry's emissions: inherently, the way that limestone is chemically treated to create cement releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This apparently makes up more than half of the industry's total emissions and represents a "wall" hampering environmental improvements. There are possibilities here, they just require research and funding.
Combustion emissions represent about a third of industry emissions and are mostly related to two factors: "the energy efficient of the cement production process and the GHG emissions intensity of its fuel mix." That is, technological improvements to efficiency can help, as can more efficient and more environmentally fuels.
Electricity emissions make up less than 10% of the industry's GHG emissions, but changes in the sourcing of electricity from fossil fuels to renewable methods like wind and solar will still reduce the industry's overall footprint.
In short, this is primarily a scientific and technical challenge. Nationally, it's also a political challenge as many companies are uninterested in environmental sustainability for its own sake. However, California is a leader in environmental sustainability in the United States, and perhaps the only reason the "stakeholders" in the CNCA include cement companies themselves is because they'd rather they have a say in the legislation that will inevitably be created to regulate their emissions. It's safe to say that the country's most populous state will have a major effect on the technologies and methodologies used by cement manufacturers in many other states as well.
Unsurprising that a post about cement got 5 votes. But still... 8% of global carbon emissions from a single industry. It's actually a big deal!
I literally cannot find the state-issued plan for decarbonization by 2045 that, according to SB 596 (Becker 2021), was due by July 1, 2023. I don't think it exists publicly (or at all?). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has a page on their website about the Net-Zero Emissions Strategy for the Cement Sector, but the last time it was updated was for a workshop that took place on May 31, 2023. The "Presentations" link connected to this workshop contains a PDF labeled "SB 596 second workshop CARB staff" (filename "SB 596 2ND WORKSHOP FINAL.PDF") which states, among other things, the following timeline:
They say that staff are "working to develop a comprehensive strategy" and that a "[r]esearch contract with UC Davis is nearing completion." I assume this the reason for the delay is somehow related to the research being done at the university. It appears that they are still discussing what the definition of "cement" is. I guess there's a reason these things take a while. From an engineering standpoint, this does appear to be a hideously complicated problem.
Page 28 of the presentation states that CARB will produce a "draft comprehensive strategy" in Q3 2023 and produce a "comprehensive strategy" in Q4 2023. Late late late. I'm sure all of my fellow cement enthusiasts on Tildes are really wringing their hands over this one. I heartily look forward to its publication.