Data show that China's total carbon emissions in 2023 were 12.6 billion tons, of which 1.21 billion tons were from the cement industry, accounting for 9.6%, second only to the power and steel industries. It can be said that energy saving and carbon reduction in the cement industry is not only an urgent need for the development of the industry itself, but also an indispensable part of the national and even global response to climate change challenges.
Just a few days ago, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in 2024-2025. The Plan makes overall arrangements for energy conservation and carbon reduction in 2024-2025 from four aspects: overall requirements, key tasks, management mechanism and support. Detailed to the building materials industry, the Plan calls for strengthening the regulation of production capacity and output of the building materials industry, strict access to new building materials projects, and promoting energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation of the building materials industry.
Faced with the urgent demand for carbon reduction, the cement industry must take a series of innovative and transformative measures, including but not limited to:
First, low-carbon technology
at the source refers to reducing the input of traditional fossil energy in production and broadening the scope of energy utilization through the substitution of raw materials and fuels and the use of clean energy. Fundamentally achieve emission reduction at the source. For example, the use of biomass fuels as renewable clean energy can save the use of primary energy, reduce carbon emissions and achieve the goal of "double carbon" under the condition that the energy consumption of clinker production is basically unchanged.
Second, process carbon reduction technology
refers to the use of a new generation of low energy consumption integrated innovation technology and equipment to optimize and upgrade existing production lines, reduce system coal consumption and power consumption, and continuously improve energy efficiency. For example, promoting the digitalization and intellectualization of production lines, using big data and AI to optimize production processes, real-time monitoring of energy use, reducing waste and improving energy efficiency; It can also implement the optimization and upgrading of cement grinding and powder selection process at the end of high-efficiency grinding equipment and process technology, and integrate the application of advanced energy-saving equipment such as magnetic/air suspension fans to reduce the power consumption of the system and gradually improve the operation level of the plant.
Third, end decarbonization technology
refers to the capture and treatment of carbon dioxide emitted from industrial production processes or energy use through biological carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, thereby reducing the direct emission of these greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This process includes not only capture, but also the effective use of captured carbon dioxide, such as conversion into other useful chemicals, fuels or materials, and ultimately storage. It is not a day's work for the
cement industry to reduce carbon. It needs to start from technology, raw materials, fuel, production management and policy response to form a comprehensive strategy to promote the industry's transformation to low carbon and contribute to the global carbon neutrality goal. At a time when the
industry is facing severe challenges, it is of immeasurable strategic significance and practical utility to actively promote the upgrading of large-scale production equipment and actively promote the energy-saving technological innovation and environmental protection upgrading and transformation of the cement industry, so as to enhance the core competitiveness of cement enterprises and realize the grand blueprint of sustainable development of the industry.
To this end, China Cement Network will hold the 11th China Cement Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Exchange Conference-Equipment Renewal Forum in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province on June 13-14. This forum will gather government leaders, industry technical specialist, scientific research institutions, universities, cement enterprises and equipment suppliers to discuss and analyze the practical path of equipment renewal and green upgrading in the cement industry, so as to promote the industry to move towards a more energy-efficient, greener and environmentally friendly future.
