{"id":38257,"date":"2018-09-25T09:09:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T14:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=38257"},"modified":"2018-09-25T09:10:38","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T14:10:38","slug":"qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=38257","title":{"rendered":"Q&#038;A: Why cement emissions matter for climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<nav class=\"rightMenu\">\n<div class=\"topSrc\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-bigSlider size-bigSlider wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/EFA7E6-pouring-cement-1550x804.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1550px) 100vw, 1550px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/EFA7E6-pouring-cement-1550x804.jpg 1550w, https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/EFA7E6-pouring-cement-1349x700.jpg 1349w\" alt=\"EFA7E6 A builder directs wet concrete from a cement truck into the foundations of a large building.\" width=\"1550\" height=\"804\" \/><\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mainC\">\n<div class=\"artTop\">\n<div class=\"ccfic\"><span class=\"ccfic-text\">A builder directs wet concrete from a cement truck into the foundations of a large building.<\/span> <span class=\"ccfic-source\">Credit: Peter Righteous\/Alamy Stock Photo.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"shadeBg\">\n<div class=\"owlDesc\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change\">Q&amp;A: Why cement emissions matter for climate change<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"innerArt\">\n<p>If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, it generated <a href=\"http:\/\/edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/news_docs\/jrc-2016-trends-in-global-co2-emissions-2016-report-103425.pdf\">around 2.8bn tonnes<\/a> of CO2, equivalent to 8% of the global total \u2013\u00a0a greater share than any country other than China or the US.<\/p>\n<p>Cement use is set to rise as global urbanisation and economic development increases demand for new buildings and infrastructure. Along with other parts of the global economy, the cement industry will need to dramatically cut its emissions to meet the Paris Agreement\u2019s temperature <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/analysis-the-final-paris-climate-deal\">goals<\/a>. However, only limited progress has been made so far.<\/p>\n<div class=\"miscLeft\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#what\">What is cement?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#why\">Why does cement emit so much CO2?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#countries\">Which countries have high cement emissions?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#reduced\">Have cement emissions been reduced?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#cut\">How far can cement emissions be cut?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"miscRight\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#novel\">Can \u201cnovel\u201d cements cut emissions?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#barriers\">What are the barriers to low-carbon cements?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#demand\">Can cement demand be reduced?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#regulated\">Are cement emissions regulated?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/qa-why-cement-emissions-matter-for-climate-change#action\">Is the cement industry taking action?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_30006\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p><a class=\"fullsizable\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30006 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final-163x300.jpg 163w, https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final-768x1411.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Cement-final-557x1024.jpg 557w\" alt=\"Reducing emissions from cement. Infographic by Rosamund Pearce for Carbon Brief.\" width=\"1100\" height=\"2021\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reducing emissions from cement. Infographic by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carbonbrief.org\/author\/rospearce\">Rosamund Pearce<\/a> for Carbon Brief.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>What is cement?<\/h4>\n<p>Cement is used in construction to bind other materials together. It is mixed with sand, gravel and water to produce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hanson.co.uk\/en\/technical-information\/what-is-concrete\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">concrete<\/a>, the most widely used construction material in the world. Over 10bn tonnes of concrete are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/publication\/making-concrete-change-innovation-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">used each year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The industry standard is a type called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/technology\/portland-cement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Portland cement<\/a>. This was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.understanding-cement.com\/history.html#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">invented<\/a> in the early 1800s and named after a building stone widely used in England at the time. It is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chathamhouse.org\/publication\/making-concrete-change-innovation-low-carbon-cement-and-concrete\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">used in 98%<\/a> of concrete globally today, with 4bn tonnes produced each year.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A builder directs wet concrete from a cement truck into the foundations of a large building. Credit: Peter Righteous\/Alamy Stock Photo. Q&amp;A: Why cement emissions matter for climate change If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third largest emitter in the world. In 2015, it generated around 2.8bn tonnes of CO2, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10797,113,21876,1004,18785],"class_list":["post-38257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-carbon-brief","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-cement","tag-co2","tag-jocelyn-timperley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38257"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38260,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38257\/revisions\/38260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}