Cement industry is an important basic raw material industry for the development of China's national economy, with high energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and has great potential for energy saving and carbon reduction. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the Special Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Cement Industry (FGHZ [2024] No.733, hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan) to further tap the potential of energy conservation and carbon reduction in the cement industry. The objectives and tasks put forward in the Action Plan are clear, the safeguard measures are strong, and the guidance and operability are strong, which is of great significance to promote the green and low-carbon development level of the cement industry.
1. Focus on the main aspects and key links, and clarify the goal
of energy saving and carbon reduction in the cement industry. China is a major cement producer and consumer, with annual cement production accounting for more than 50% of global production. In recent years, the annual output of cement in China has been maintained at more than 2 billion tons, reaching 2.02 billion tons in 2023, resulting in a large amount of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. It is estimated that the energy consumption of cement industry in China accounts for about 70% -80% of the building materials industry, and the carbon emissions exceed 10% of the total national carbon emissions, so the potential of energy saving and carbon reduction is huge. The Action Plan strengthens the goal orientation and problem orientation, focuses on the main aspects and key links, anchors the two time nodes of 2025 and 2030, and puts forward the main objectives of cement clinker production capacity layout, energy efficiency level, energy saving and carbon reduction effect in detail. It will effectively promote the cement industry to achieve green, low-carbon and high-quality development.
2. Deploy and promote key tasks to comprehensively improve the level
of energy conservation and carbon reduction in the industry. The Action Plan puts forward six key tasks to further clarify the grasp and implementation path of promoting energy conservation and carbon reduction in the cement industry. First, optimize the industrial layout and capacity regulation. The number of cement production enterprises in China is large, the layout is scattered, and the industrial concentration is low. The Action Plan calls for the strict implementation of the capacity replacement policy, the elimination of backward production capacity in accordance with the law and regulations, and the prohibition of new production capacity in violation of regulations. We will strengthen energy conservation review and environmental assessment and approval, and strictly enforce access to new projects. Encourage the merger and reorganization of stock enterprises and promote the development of industry agglomeration. The second is to speed up the transformation of energy conservation and carbon reduction and the renewal of energy-using equipment. At present, the energy efficiency of about 16% of cement clinker production capacity in China is still lower than the benchmark level, and some cement enterprises have a large number of old equipment, so upgrading and equipment renewal are the key measures to promote energy saving and carbon reduction in the industry. The Action Plan focuses on the main energy-consuming equipment for cement production, proposes to upgrade the relevant equipment and technical requirements for raw material preparation, kiln control, grinding and crushing, focuses on promoting the system transformation of crushing, batching, clinker calcination, drying, raw fuel and product storage and transportation, and supports the overall upgrading of preheaters, kiln burners and grate coolers. Third, the implementation of low-carbon fuel substitution. The average fuel substitution rate of China's cement industry is about 5%, and low-carbon fuel substitution is still in its infancy. The Action Plan requires promoting the use of biomass fuels in cement kilns, supporting alternative fuels with high calorific value, low cost and standardized pretreatment, encouraging cement enterprises to actively optimize the energy consumption structure, promoting efficient utilization modes such as waste heat and pressure power generation and heat supply, and defining the consumption proportion of alternative fuels in the industry by 2025. The four is to promote the green transformation of cement production mode and products. The Action Plan supports the development of special cement such as low-calcium cement clinker, the development of low-carbon cement products such as new carbon-fixing cementitious materials, and the promotion of large-scale production of special cement, low-carbon cement and other products, parts and cement-based composite products. Fifth, promote the recycling of resources. Strengthening the coordinated allocation of upstream and downstream resources in the cement industry chain and improving the recycling level of the industry are conducive to the formation of a green and low-carbon development force throughout the life cycle. The Action Plan promotes the substitution of calcium carbide slag and other calcium-containing industrial waste residue resources for limestone as raw materials for cement production, encourages the increase of the proportion of industrial solid waste raw materials in cement clinker production, and defines the target of comprehensive utilization of 800 million tons of waste in the cement industry by the end of 2025. Sixth, improve the level of digital management. The Action Plan encourages cement enterprises to establish data acquisition and distributed control systems, expert optimization intelligent control systems, and explore the application scenarios of "industrial Internet + energy efficiency management"; it proposes to deepen the application of digital technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain in the cement industry, and promote technologies such as intelligent quality control in the whole process.
3. Strengthening policy support and supporting special actions to
promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in the cement industry involves technological innovation, transformation and renewal, recycling and other links, which requires comprehensive strengthening of policy and financial support. Strengthening incentive and restraint, increasing financial support, promoting standard upgrading and accelerating technological innovation, so as to promote the green, low-carbon and high-quality development of cement industry. One is to strengthen incentives and constraints. According to the level of energy efficiency and environmental protection performance, the cement industry should implement differentiated output regulation and ladder electricity price system. Promote the normalization of cement peak staggering production. The second is to increase financial support. Give full play to the amplification effect of government investment, implement the current preferential tax policies, actively develop green finance and transform financial products and services, and increase support for energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation and energy-using equipment renewal projects in the cement industry. Third, we should promote the upgrading of standards. We will accelerate the updating and upgrading of mandatory energy-saving standards for the cement industry, revise the carbon emission quota standards for cement clinker and other products in a timely manner, optimize the standard system for green low-carbon intelligent manufacturing in the cement industry, study and formulate standards for comprehensive utilization of industrial wastes, and accelerate the introduction of technical specifications for evaluation of low-carbon cement and other products. Fourth, accelerate technological innovation. We will intensify efforts to tackle key technical problems such as hydrogen energy, electric energy calcination of cement clinker and new circulating suspension calcination of cement clinker, incorporate advanced energy-saving and carbon-reducing technology and equipment in the cement industry into the catalogue of green technology promotion, and accelerate the transformation and application of scientific and technological innovations.
4. Strengthen the organization and implementation, ensure the implementation of various objectives and tasks, and
promote the realization of energy saving and carbon reduction goals in the cement industry. We should give full play to the strength of relevant departments, regions, institutions and enterprises, strengthen overall coordination and form joint efforts. The Action Plan puts forward the requirements of strengthening organization and implementation from four aspects: organization and leadership, project implementation, supervision and management, and publicity and guidance. The relevant departments at the national level should strengthen coordination and cooperation, and jointly implement the objectives and tasks in detail; all regions should refine measures, decompose tasks and compact responsibilities according to the actual situation, carry out in-depth energy efficiency diagnosis, strengthen project reserve and construction, strictly supervise and manage, and implement the action plan in a solid and orderly manner. Industry associations, think tanks and research institutions should give full play to the role of industry research and "bridge" and strengthen service guidance for cement enterprises. State-owned enterprises and leading enterprises in the cement industry should play a leading role and jointly create a good atmosphere to promote the green and low-carbon development of the cement industry.
(Author: Kong An, Vice President of China Building Materials Industry Planning and Research Institute)
