25 February 2013: A new technology roadmap by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Cement Sustainability Initiative (WBCSD CSI) presents a path for nearly halving India’s carbon emissions from cement production projected for 2050. The “Technology Roadmap: Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry” outlines how these cuts could be achieved through an array of technological levers and financial and policy support.
India, the world’s fastest growing cement market, has seen the sector’s carbon intensity drop by one-third since 1996. Nevertheless, cement production contributes 7% of the country’s carbon emissions, which are expected to grow from 137 millions tons of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in 2010 to between 488 MtCO2 and 835 MtCO2 by 2050 under business as usual.
The IEA report claims however, that with the right technologies, policy frameworks and investments amounting to US$29-50 billion through 2050, the CO2 intensity of cement manufacturing can fall by 45%. According to the roadmap, investments and advancements in alternative fuels, waste heat recovery, carbon capture and storage (CCS), clinker substitution, and a range of other technologies could deliver these gains. The report further promotes a suite of relevant policy measures, including policies that encourage alternative fuel use, adoption of technologies for new and retrofit kilns, public-private partnerships, and stable and predictable international constraints on CO2 emissions.
The roadmap was produced as part of Phase I of the WBCSD initiative involving the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB), with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group. The roadmap will be followed by Phase II of the intiative, where CSI member companies will test and review the feasibility suggested investments.
Speaking about the report, Philippe Fonta, Managing Director of WBCSD CSI, said that, “CSI member companies in India are able, thanks for IFC support, to scale up the implementation of low-carbon solutions in their own plants and across the cement industry more broadly.” [IEA Press Release] [WBCSD Press Release] [Publication: Technology Roadmap: Low Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry]