• The new agenda for a zero-carbon footprint foresees a 42% reduction in emissions by 2030 and an 83% reduction by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, aiming to achieve climate neutrality by 2050

Catalan cement manufacturing companies have renewed and updated their Roadmap to achieve climate neutrality by increasing the targets initially set in the project’s first edition in 2020. The new agenda for a zero-carbon footprint foresees a 42% reduction in emissions by 2030 and an 83% reduction by 2040 compared to 1990 levels, aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2050. In fact, the updated Roadmap establishes that within 25 years, the carbon emissions across the entire cement value chain will become negative.

Specifically, the document published by the employers’ association Ciment Català states that the 806 kg of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere per ton of cement produced in 1990 will turn into the capture of 111 kg per ton of cement produced by 2050. To achieve this goal throughout the product’s value chain, the Roadmap outlines the implementation of measures across 5 stages:

  1. Clinker production (material generated by heating limestone)
  2. Cement production (obtained by adding additives to clinker)
  3. Concrete production (cement + aggregates + water)
  4. Construction (use of cement and its derivatives as building materials)
  5. (Re)Carbonation (thanks to concrete’s capacity to absorb CO₂)

 

Several actions have been designed for implementation across each of these five phases, known as the 5Cs for their initials in English. The most notable include:

  • Material and energy valorization during clinker production (the process responsible for most emissions)
  • Use of green hydrogen as fuel
  • Optimization of energy efficiency through the application of management systems
  • Development of low-carbon cements
  • Electrification of transport within factories and in cement deliveries to the market
  • Development of CO₂ capture and storage technologies

The document, published on the Ciment Català website and introduced by Sílvia Paneque, Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, and Miquel Sàmper, Minister for Business and Labor, calls for Catalonia to lead the sustainable transformation of the cement sector and make a decisive contribution to Europe’s climate goals.

For his part, the association’s president, Salvador Fernández Capo, stated that “to make climate neutrality a reality, collaboration between the sector and public institutions is essential.” In this regard, he explained that the Catalan industry is calling for “a share of the revenues derived from carbon-related taxation to be allocated to decarbonization projects, the development of networks for CO₂ transport and storage, guaranteed access to renewable energy at competitive prices, and the simplification and streamlining of administrative procedures for permits related to decarbonization projects.”

 

This is how the Catalan cement industry will achieve climate neutrality by 2050

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legend:

  • For each phase of the value chain, a set of actions to be implemented is defined (the figure in parentheses indicates the total kilograms of CO₂ emissions avoided compared to 1990)