Green Cement- the key component for a green future

Need for Green Cement

Look around you. Every building, road and infrastructure project you see is built using concrete. Billions of tonnes every year. Cement and the concrete it makes, are both a necessity, and a challenge. 

A challenge because the process to manufacture cement results in GHG emissions. And as the world wakes up to the pressing challenge of global warming, abating and avoiding these emissions is critical. At the same time, Cement is a key ingredient for developing our cities and societies: construction material is responsible for putting roofs over the heads of billions. As the backbone of the housing and infrastructure market, it also fuels widespread economic growth.

As the world’s third largest emitter of carbon dioxide, India’s ‘net-zero’ commitment will be consequential for the planet’s fight against climate change, more so in this decade as we strive to halve global emissions by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Amongst India’s five climate targets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for reducing 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030, with India targeting to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.

Industrial manufacturing—producing nearly 20 percent of India’s GHG emissions—is one of the hardest to abate. Almost half of these emissions come from just two industries — iron & steel and cement—making it critical to decarbonize these sectors if India is to achieve its net-zero goal. The cement industry as a whole is responsible for nearly 7% of the total CO2 emissions globally.

Evolving regulations and the increasing frequency of natural disasters are changing how construction industries design, build and operate critical infrastructure, from public infrastructure to industries, to real estate. 

The cement industry’s role in providing sustainable infrastructure requires a holistic approach. This includes decarbonization of not only construction processes but materials as well- creating ways to manufacture and promote greener cement alternatives. 

Dalmia Cement – A pioneer in Green Cement Manufacturing

Dalmia Cement is paving the way for a carbon negative cement Industry across the globe. With a strategic roadmap to address environmental needs, we are committed to be a carbon-negative company by 2040. Here’s how we are doing it:

Increasing the proportion of green cement: We are focused on manufacturing high quality ‘green cement’, essentially, Cement made by intermixing waste material from other industries- such as Blast furnace slag and fly ash. This has helped us moderate CO2 emissions in cement manufacturing and made us one of the lowest carbon footprint cement producers globally. In addition to mitigating resource availability, there are cost and revenue benefits of applying this strategy. 

By utilizing waste materials, we act as waste disposal partners for power and steel plants. For e.g., fly ash, which is an industrial byproduct of thermal power plants, is pure waste and a pollutant. If not consumed in cement and related industries, it will go to landfill, or stored in ash ponds, which creates further pollution. 

Replacing fossil fuels in manufacturing: Our approach goes beyond profitability, as we have been taking rigorous steps to decarbonize our operations. We have additionally taken a goal to replace fossil fuels completely by using sustainable biomass, bamboo plants, municipal waste, and plastic waste. And will be able to deploy superior technological improvements including CO2 capture, sequestration and utilization; green hydrogen, heat electrification, solar calcination, etc. in years to come. All of these steps will help in building value towards climate change prevention.

By 2030, Dalmia Cement aims to ensure that our plants will completely shift to alternative fuel sources. 

Positive Impacts of using blended cement-

• Lower emissions while building new structures
• Lowering the overall cost of building as blended cement is cost-effective compared to Ordinary Portland Cement
• Offers Sustainability and Durability against carbonation, chloride induced corrosion, sulphate attacks and alkali-silica reaction
• Reduced additional expenses on repairs/renovations due to lesser seepage and related incidents
• Waste materials from other industries are used as input while using blended cement, thus production of composite cement results in resource conservation, greater sustainability and lower CO2 emission.

Future of Green Buildings

Blended cements are a revolutionary product produced in an environmentally-friendly way and can help build a sustainable world. The industry needs sustainable methods of cement production that are energy-efficient and cost-optimized. 

The requirement of using green and sustainable building materials has been recognized by policy makers as well. Indian Green Building Council (A CII body) and GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment) are two such organizations in India which are into green building evaluation. 

These bodies have robust mechanisms to evaluate buildings for their green quotient and certify them as green buildings on different scales. The evaluation comprises several parameters including the building materials used in the construction of a building. As the only cement company India which is certified by both GRIHA and IGBC, when you build with a Dalmia Cement product, you can help build a better world.

Learn more about our consumer products and institutional products. If you need further information about us, please email customercare@dalmiacement.com or call us at 1800 2020. 

If you’d like to buy cement from Dalmia Bharat Limited, visit our Dalmia Website.