Jean-Marc Jancovici: With steel and plastic, it is one of the materials that revolutionized the world. "It" is cement.

Check out Jean-Marc Jancovici's post ​

Read the Les Echos article here 

Mathieu Neuville, CEO of MATERRUP: : "Thank you, Jean-Marc Jancovici and Les Echos, for addressing the critical topic of cement, a cornerstone in decarbonizing our economy, the construction sector, and building materials! Let us not forget that cement is the second most manufactured product in the world and alone accounts for 7% of CO2 emissions.

At MATERRUP Low-Carbon Cements, we share these concerns and are taking immediate action by offering concrete low-carbon, certified, high-performance, circular, and local solutions.

Committed to combating climate change and protecting biodiversity, we demonstrate that it is already possible to do better with less—and at the right price :

➡️ Our cements are made from non-calcined clay waste and processed through cold activities. Our recycled resource is inherently and indisputably low-carbon, not derived from the thermal industry.

➡️ Our cement plants are resilient, rooted in values of sobriety and common sense: local, circular, modular territorial factories.

➡️ We collaborate across the existing supply chain to meet the decarbonization challenge together: partnering with stakeholders of all sizes, including quarry operators, cement manufacturers, and concrete producers.

It is possible to act now—to rethink our construction systems and materials, transforming established models with a singular focus: acting for future generations."

Jean-Marc Jancovici's Post : 

"Together with steel and plastic, it is one of the materials that has revolutionized the world. 'It' is cement, developed a little over two centuries ago by a Frenchman (Louis Vicat) and, through concrete, it has become the foundation of the entire construction industry.

Cement is what we call a hydraulic binder. This means that when mixed with water, it hardens and binds the materials it is mixed with (typically sand or aggregates when it comes to concrete).

By making it easy to create solid blocks of all shapes and virtually any size, cement—and consequently concrete—has become ubiquitous in construction. Goodbye to regional architectures that used local materials and adapted to the local climate; concrete is now everywhere!

The basic process for producing cement involves heating a mixture of limestone (80%) and clay to very high temperatures (around 1450°C). During this process, the limestone (CaCO3) releases a molecule of CO2, and the remaining quicklime (CaO) combines with the molecules in the clay (aluminum, silicon, and iron oxides) to form clinker nodules, which are then ground into cement.

Currently, 4 billion tons of cement are produced annually worldwide, with the majority of demand coming from emerging countries building cities and infrastructure. China, accounting for half of the global total, produces 23 times more than the USA!! (https://t.ly/_qwfq

).

Producing one ton of cement emits nearly one ton of CO2. Two-thirds of the emissions come from the "release" of CO2 by limestone (a process called decarbonation), while the remaining third comes from the energy used to heat the kiln, often coal.

As a result, the global cement industry alone generates 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions—equivalent to about two-thirds of the world's passenger car fleet or the total emissions of the entire global truck fleet.

The question is: Can we produce "green" cement, avoiding both the CO2 from heating energy and the decarbonation of limestone? This recurring question is the subject of a Les Echos article that explores two possibilities (among others): https://t.ly/E3y8g

If we consider that cement is used for construction, there are many apparent ways to emit less :

- Build fewer buildings and infrastructures

- Use less concrete in construction

- Reduce the cement content in concrete

- Create hydraulic binders using alternatives to clinker

- Capture and store CO2 emissions from cement plants

The two pathways discussed in Les Echos fall into the penultimate category. As part of the French Economy Transformation Plan, the Shift Project examined how to leverage all these options to progress at the right pace : https://t.ly/j0fN_

Once again, we will need to talk about sobriety!"