cement industry is getting closer to the national carbon trading market. On September 9, the General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a letter soliciting public opinions on the Work Program of the National Carbon Emission Trading Market Covering Cement, Steel and Electrolytic Aluminum Industries (Draft for Opinions). Work objectives are proposed to start the implementation (2024-2026) and deepen the improvement (2027-), actively and steadily promote the construction of the national carbon emission trading market in cement, steel and electrolytic aluminium industries, and define the specific objectives of each stage.
Cement is one of the major carbon emitters. According to the 2023 China Construction and Urban Infrastructure Carbon Emission Research Report, the carbon emission value of building materials production and transportation stage in 2021 is 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for 16% of the country's total, of which cement accounts for 15%. The task of "double carbon" is arduous. Many voices in the
industry are looking forward to bringing the cement industry into the national carbon market. Jing Shiqing, president of
China Resources Building Materials Technology, said: "The introduction of the national carbon market is a major positive for us, and the cement industry can take this opportunity to speed up the elimination of backward production capacity.". Zhou Jinbo, secretary and president of the Party Committee
of Conch Building Material Design and Research Institute, has also suggested accelerating the cement industry's entry into the carbon market. He believes that this will help to give full play to the market mechanism, encourage cement enterprises to tackle key problems through green low-carbon technology, accelerate the development and application of advanced and applicable technologies, eliminate backward equipment and production capacity, and achieve green and low-carbon development of the cement industry. How does the
cement industry meet carbon trading? While actively exploring the key emission reduction paths in the industry, the
cement industry should actively do a good job in the management of carbon assets, and strengthen the management of carbon assets by using carbon financial instruments to achieve value preservation and appreciation, so as to make it a new profit growth point for enterprises.
Cement enterprises can manage carbon assets and gain advantages in the carbon market from four aspects: finding out the family background and effectively managing carbon assets; realizing low-carbon management and setting up specialized agencies or departments; actively participating in carbon market transactions and accumulating experience; developing carbon financial products and helping their own development. Ye Jiayuan, vice president of Cement New Materials Institute of
China Building Materials Research Institute Co., Ltd., said that when cement is included in the carbon market, enterprises can start from three aspects to prepare: First, try to find out the family background , and have a clear understanding of their actual situation. The second is to reserve or implement relevant low-carbon technologies as soon as possible, including but not limited to energy-saving transformation, demonstration and verification of new low-carbon technologies, focusing on low-carbon technologies, forming carbon assets, and seizing the first-mover advantage; Thirdly, we should pay due attention to and understand carbon accounting methods and carbon trading mechanisms , strengthen policy learning, and have a good idea so as to cope with them in the future.
Facing the upcoming national carbon market and the transformation trend under the goal of "double carbon", many cement enterprises have begun to make efforts in the field of energy saving and carbon reduction. Raw material substitution, fuel substitution, co-disposal of municipal solid waste in cement kilns, pre-sintering kiln technology, energy control, waste heat power generation, development of low-carbon cement, adjustment of variety structure and other means to jointly promote the green transformation of the cement industry. Actively exploring the path of carbon reduction and actively embracing the carbon market, the cement industry may usher in new opportunities.
The cement industry will soon be incorporated into the carbon trading market, and the importance of green low-carbon transformation has become increasingly apparent. To this end, China Cement Network will hold the " 2024 China Cement Double Carbon Conference and the 12th Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Exchange Conference " in Wuhu Conch International Hotel on October 24-25. The conference will focus on the core issues of low-carbon development and green upgrading in the cement industry, discuss the application of energy efficiency improvement and energy-saving and carbon reduction technologies, and how the cement industry can use the carbon trading mechanism to promote its low-carbon transformation.
