CII’s Green Cementech 2024: An Overview

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) held the Green Cementech and Captive Power Plant Conference between May 23 and May 24, 2024. The objective of the event was to explore how the Indian Cement Industry would achieve its Net Zero goals.

Some highlights

Second Largest in the World

India produces approximately 400 million tons of cement. The installed capacity is at about 550 million tons. New capacity keeps getting added. In the event it was estimated that the installed capacity will double within the next 8-10 years.

Most Energy Efficient industry in the World

Cement production requires thermal energy and electrical energy. Indian cement industry is the most energy efficient in the world[1].

Emission Intensity

The current emission intensity of the Indian cement industry is at 670 kgCO2 per ton of cement production.

Opportunities to Achieve Net Zero

In the opening remarks of the event, a broad decarbonization roadmap was presented. It showed the areas where the industry can reduce its emission intensity.

From the current 670 kgCO2/ton, switching to clean tech/fuel switch and RE will reduce emissions by 24% and 12% respectively. Other interventions such as clinker ratio, waste heat recovery and electric transportation would help the industry achieve about 486 kgCO2/ton.

The industry is also looking at extended producer responsibility (EPR) / recycling and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) to help reduce by a further 12% and 21% respectively to achieve 372 kgCO2/ton emission intensity. The balance would probably be buying offsets.

Captive Power Plants (CPP) from Fossil to RE

CPPs are using Biomass to reduce their emission intensities. Cement industry is also investing in owning or purchasing RE power from RE developers. Already it was estimated that the industry now has over 1GW of installed RE capacity. This is in addition to the 1 GW of Waste Heat Recovery installations. It is expected that the industry will install about 20GW of PV/Wind capacities. Already developers are vying for this market. Where the State regulations for Green Open Access is friendly, cement manufacturers are entering into long-term PPAs with solar + wind developers. Manufacturers from other less-friendly states are opting for RE power through ISTS. The market is just beginning.

LC3 (Limestone Calcined Clay Cement or LC3)

This is a new type of cement that uses a mixture of limestone and calcined clay. This process helps in reducing the heat required in the process and thereby reducing the emissions.

Electrifying the Thermal Processes

Some of the futuristic technologies were also presented that demonstrated that the thermal processes can be converted into electrical processes (@Coolbrook - https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/coolbrook/ and SaltX Technology ). This helps in powering these processes through RE.

And one company (@Cemex - https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/cemex/ ) demonstrated that using Concentrated Solar Plant (CSP) the thermal process can be continued using solar thermal technologies.

Conclusion

Cement industry is a hard to abate sector in terms of emission reductions. However, the Indian Cement industry has achieved the sobriquet of being the most energy efficient. With investments in the above mentioned interventions, the Indian cement industry is confident of achieving its Net Zero goals by 2050.

[1] https://www.cmaindia.org/indian-cement-sector-hallmark-of-energy-efficient-operations

With about 2 decades of advisory and engineering experience in over 30+GW of renewables, Arbutus Consultants Pvt Ltd. could be your partner of choice in your energy transition and decarbonisation journey. Please reach out to us at [email protected] to find out how we may be of assistance.