Decarbonizing our Operations

DECARBONIZING OUR OPERATIONS

Our Pathway to Carbon Neutrality

Future in Action starts in our operations. We are evolving our production process to reduce its carbon footprint every step of the way.

Future in Action concentrates on maximizing four levers to reduce our carbon emissions, and achieve our 2030 goals:

Increasing the use of alternative fuels instead of regular fossil fuels.
Reducing the clinker factor in our cement.
Optimizing thermal efficiency in our kilns.
Increasing the use of decarbonated raw materials in clinker.

Future in Action concentrates on maximizing four levers to reduce our carbon emissions, and achieve our 2030 goals:

Increasing the use of alternative fuels instead of regular fossil fuels.
Reducing the clinker factor in our cement.
Optimizing thermal efficiency in our kilns.
Increasing the use of decarbonated raw materials in clinker.

Alternative Fuels and Co-Processing

Alternative fuels can eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels, powering our kilns while also providing other benefits for the environment. Alternative fuels, particularly biomass, are a byproduct of humanity, which otherwise end up in landfills. The ensuing decomposition generates methane, a greenhouse gas up to 80 times more harmful to the environment than CO₂.

Co-processing is a more efficient waste management solution than landfilling and incineration, this means that the cement industry is a net consumer of waste and contributes to a more Circular Economy.

There are four main benefits of co-processing for climate action:

01

Reduction of CO₂ emissions in our cement manufacturing process.

02

Use of alternative fuels as a measure to help counteract pollution.

03

Decrease the amount of waste deposited in landfills.

04

Minimizing public investment costs for new waste facilities.

Clinker Factor Reduction

Clinker, the key component of cement, is produced by fusing together limestone, clay, and other materials in a rotary kiln at temperatures nearing 1500 Celsius. This is a very energy-intensive and carbon-emitting process. In fact, most direct CO₂ emissions in the cement production process are generated by the chemical reaction of clinker production in our kilns. Our efforts concentrate on substituting it with byproducts from other industries like blast furnace slag, and fly ash. Waste from other industries and alternative raw materials allow us to reduce the clinker factor while maintaining the same quality and durability of our products. Our new clinker types have up to 20% lower CO₂ emissions.

Renewable and Cost-Effective Energy

During 2021, around 30% of our operation’s power came from clean electricity sources. Through this action, our indirect emissions, related to the electricity consumed in our plants, also contribute to reducing our carbon footprint.

2021 Results

-26.2%

net CO₂ emissions per ton of cementitious product, avoiding 8.6 million tons.

30%

of our cement operations' electricity came from clean electricity.

29.2%

of our global alternative fuels rate.

91%

of our plants co-processed close to 3.3 million tons of waste as alternative fuels.

In 2021 we achieved our best performance ever in the use of alternative fuels, clean electricity consumption, and the largest annual reduction in clinker factor in the last 10 years.

Decarbonizing Our Production Process

Future In Action is a long-term program which will continue to work on our production process to reduce our carbon footprint and meet our 2050 goal of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company.