eco
cem
After water, concrete is the most used substance on earth.
Yet, concrete’s key ingredient – cement – is incredibly polluting, responsible for eight per cent of global CO2 emissions.
Most used construction material
Concrete is the most used manmade substance on earth. It is strong durable, cheap, practical, and can take almost any shape.
Learn moreConcrete versus cement
Concrete is essentially made of four things: sand, water, aggregates (rocks / stone), and cement.
Learn more8 per cent of global CO2 emissions
If it was a country, the cement industry would be the third biggest source of CO2 emissions, behind only China and the United States.
Learn more55 per cent by 2030
According to the IPCC, to limit global warming to 1.5-2°C, global CO2 emissions must fall by 55 per cent by 2030.
Learn moreThe twofold challenge
The technological solution
Decarbonisation of the cement industry is essential for the planet and future generations, and it can be achieved through innovation and technology.
Learn moreMost used construction material
Most used construction material
Concrete is arguably one of the most important substances on earth.
It is critical for putting roofs over the heads of billions, and essential for providing structure for healthcare, sanitation, transport, education, and workplaces. Additionally, it is vital in providing the infrastructure required to meet carbon reduction targets all around the world.
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Yet, concrete’s key ingredient – cement – is incredibly polluting.
In total, the cement industry is responsible for eight per cent of global CO2 emissions.
In fact, as a result of construction, well over 50 per cent of a building’s lifetime carbon footprint is already in place before a single light is switched on – in large part, thanks to cement.
Concrete versus cement
Concrete versus cement
Cement is the key ingredient of concrete. It is the “glue” – otherwise known as the “binder”.
If you don’t have cement, concrete will collapse – just like a sandcastle.
Even though cement only makes up about 10 per cent by weight of concrete, it is responsible for over 90 per cent of its carbon footprint.
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8% of global CO2 emissions
8% of global CO2 emissions
The cement industry produces a huge amount of CO2. After energy and steel production, it is the third single largest emitter – it produces more CO2 than the shipping, aviation, and trucking industries combined.
And the size of the industry is only increasing. As urbanisation and population growth continues, a New York City-sized city will be built every month for the next 40 years.
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55 per cent by 2030
55 per cent by 2030
Cement CO2 emissions are down 15 per cent based on 1990 levels.
However, near-term emissions reduction levers are almost exhausted, and further reductions of only about one per cent per year from 2017 to 2030 are projected.
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Cumulatively, this means that the cement industry is on track for a reduction of less than 30 per cent, well short of where we need to be.
Urgent action is required to promote any options that help the cement industry to accelerate its CO2 reduction targets.
The twofold challenge
The twofold challenge
The cement industry’s CO2 emissions emanate from two key sources.
Firstly, cement manufacturing is very energy intensive. Energy emissions account for about 33 per cent of the cement industry’s CO2 footprint.
This means that we could manufacture cement using entirely renewable energy sources and still only reduce the carbon footprint of the cement industry by 33 per cent.
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Secondly, cement is made by burning limestone and clays (at 1,450°C) which, when burned, emit significant amounts of CO2 as a by-product, in a chemical reaction called carbonation.
The CO2 emissions emanating from this chemical reaction are called process emissions, and these are responsible for 66 per cent of the industry’s CO2 footprint.
Given its size, the industry needs to focus on process emissions. This means exploring ways of avoiding the chemical reaction during the burning of limestone and, instead, use alternative cements that do not undergo this process at all.
The technological solution
The technological solution
Sixty-six per cent of CO2 emissions from the manufacturing process of traditional cement result from a chemical reaction that occurs when you heat limestone to 1,450°C. These emissions are unavoidable in the production of traditional cement.
The industry is, therefore, left with two choices:
Option one, capture and use the CO2 emissions using carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology. While exciting, CCUS will likely not be feasible at scale for at least a decade, and will be economically difficult to deploy across the cement industry.
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Option two, dilute the use of traditional cement using alternative cementitious materials.
Alternatives, which are high performing, scalable, cost effective, and technically proficient, already exist.
Ultimately, while both options one and two will both need to be deployed to fully decarbonise the cement industry by 2050, option two – substituting traditional cement, either partially or fully – is undoubtedly the fastest and most affordable route to decarbonising the cement industry in coming critical number of years.
At Ecocem we focus on option two, developing low carbon alternatives to traditional cement, and scaling them.
The second of his five questions to ask in every climate conversation.
Deployed at scale, our technology can reduce cement industry emissions by half, and overall global emissions by almost five per cent.
Europe’s leading provider of high performance, low carbon cement technologies.
Our technology
Ecocem is Europe’s leading provider of low carbon solutions for the cement and construction industries.
Learn moreTrusted for performance
Ecocem's technology is being used in many of Europe's most most important infrastructure projects.
Learn moreInnovating to reduce impacts now
We have always been a first mover, and our pipeline of technology continues to be industry leading.
Learn moreCost effectiveness
With Ecocem, the cement industry can cost-effectively decarbonise by 50 per cent by 2030.
Learn moreEcosystem of partners
We operate within a network of world-class universities, financial backers and steel, cement, and construction companies with whom we engage to develop our technology.
Learn moreOur ambition
Our technology
Our technology
For more than 20 years, Ecocem has been reducing the need to burn limestone for cement, by allowing the use of alternative ingredients.
Our products, which have historically principally utilised ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS), emit just a fraction of CO2 per tonne, compared to traditional cement.
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Our new ultra-low carbon cement is the lowest carbon cement ever used in Europe at scale, reducing the CO2 footprint of cement by over a factor of eight.
Our low carbon solutions are high performance, have strength and workability metrics in line with traditional cement, and are available without excessive cost.
Trusted for performance
Trusted for performance
Established in 2000, Ecocem operates four production plants and three import terminals across Europe with a total capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of GGBS. With approximately 200 employees, we supply more than 10 countries with 15 different low carbon cementitious products.
Our mission is to lead the way with low carbon cement technology, and we place a high value on our own internal sustainability performance. We monitor and measure our operational carbon emissions, identify reduction initiatives, and publish a detailed sustainability report annually.
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We have been awarded a B rating with the globally recognised Carbon Disclosure Project, and have ISO certifications across all sites in environment, quality, and safety compliance. All our products go through rigorous quality control testing and carry CE marks or equivalent as well as environmental product declarations.
At Ecocem, we feel that diversity and engagement promote innovation, and that our energy and our success comes from a cohesive, tenacious, and flourishing team culture.
Innovating to reduce impacts now
Innovating to reduce impacts now
Ecocem is constantly optimising the environmental, technical, and economic performance of our technology and products.
The biggest obstacle to the rapid decarbonisation of the cement industry has been scalability – GGBS, the product that we have used historically to produce our low carbon solutions, is a relatively scarce resource.
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We have overcome this obstacle by accelerating the development of breakthrough, scalable technologies and products that will result in a step-change in the decarbonisation of the cement industry.
Our world-class innovation centre located just outside of Paris in France’s largest research cluster, is dedicated to testing, evaluating, and improving our technologies.
Cost effectiveness
Cost effectiveness
Partially or wholly substituting traditional cement with scalable cementitious alternatives is undoubtedly the most cost-efficient way of decarbonising the cement industry. This is because it can be done using existing facilities and by using raw materials already widely used across the industry today.
The green premium of our breakthrough scalable technology is a fraction of that of other decarbonisation technologies.
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While other technologies, such as carbon capture, are progressing, they are still in their infancy and will cost enormous sums to scale across what is the very decentralised cement industry.
Using Ecocem’s technology, the cement industry can cost effectively decarbonise by 50 per cent by 2030, without significant disruption to existing processes.
Ecosystem of partners
Ecosystem of partners
First and foremost, we are innovators. We challenge ourselves to invent breakthrough technologies and, to do so, we work with some of the world’s best materials focused universities, such as Université Paris-Saclay, to help us realise our mission.
From Bill Gates led Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), to ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel company, and Saint-Gobain Group, a global sustainable materials group, our strategic investors help guide our growth ambitions.
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Finally, in working with some of the most innovative cement and construction companies, we have been able to scale our technologies and supply chain into some of the largest and greenest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Europe.
Our ambition
Our ambition
The cement and construction industries are developing and deploying a range of emission reduction technologies. At Ecocem, we aim to be the vanguard of these efforts.
Our wide range of products including low carbon cements, screeds, and mortars have led the way for the past two decades.
However, we have only been able to move as fast as the supply of our key raw materials.
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Now, after deep innovation, we have developed step-change technology that can, for the first time in the cement industry’s history, deliver rapid, large scale decarbonisation of one of the world’s largest contributors of Greenhouse Gases. In fact, we believe the cement industry can decarbonise by 50 per cent by 2030 using this technology. We’re hugely excited by what this means and we’re only getting started.
If you would like to learn about what’s happening at Ecocem, we would love to hear from you.
This is equivalent to taking more than three million cars off the road.
News and views
Pat Cox – former President and Member of the European Parliament and former Member of the Irish Parliament – has been appointed as Ecocem’s new chair.
ReadEcocem operates within an ecosystem of similarly motivated partners.