Issue introduction

Coal provides around 90% of the energy consumed by cement plants around the world, despite the environmental harm caused by its combustion. It takes 200-450kg of coal to produce 1t of cement.

Germany’s Spenner Zement has already used alternative fuels for more than two decades.

CO2 capture and storage / usage (CCS / CCU) are terms used to describe a range of nascent technologies that, if technically and commercially viable, could drastically reduce future CO2 emissions from the combustion of conventional and alternative fuels, including in the cement sector.

New over-pressurisation systems have been installed on nine 50t capacity silos at Sika’s UK headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, three of which contain cement and six of which contain sand.