Canada: Researchers at the University of British Columbia have developed a cement production process that reduces energy demand by 70% and CO₂ emissions by 98% compared to conventional production. The researchers used electricity to lower the energy requirements of the process, with the reaction taking place at 60°C. The product of the reaction was then converted into belite in a kiln at 650°C. The team also tested the process on recycled cement instead of limestone to further reduce emissions. The new method reduced emissions to 20kg/t of CO₂ compared to 500-800kg/t of CO₂ from conventional cement production. The electrochemical reactions produced hydrogen, which could be burned to provide the thermal energy for the second step of cement production. The university has filed an international patent application for the technology.
One of the researchers, Curtis Berlinguette, said “Our team was motivated to address cement production emissions at the source. We used electricity and recycled cement to make precursors that formed a type of cement called belite at lower temperatures than were previously known.”
