Decarbonizing the cementitious materials cycle: A whole‐systems review of measures to decarbonize the cement supply chain in the UK and European contexts

Sarah Pamenter and Rupert J. Myers

Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2021, vol. 25, issue 2, 359-376

Abstract: This paper presents a semi‐quantitative review of measures to achieve net‐zero greenhouse gas emissions (“decarbonization”) in the cementitious materials (CMs) cycle, that is, activities directly related to cement spanning extraction through to end of life. It focuses on the United Kingdom and Europe in order to relate these measures, comprising emissions, energy, and material efficiency, to the policy landscape. We summarize our findings in an annotated CMs cycle, produced by reconciling the diverse yet relatively underdeveloped literature on the topic, to quantify decarbonization potentials of the various measures in a systematic manner. We find that decarbonization measures with significant potential exist along the entire CMs cycle, although upstream (of use), energy, and emission efficiency measures are better quantified than downstream (of use) and material efficiency measures. Notably, the decarbonization potentials of recycling technologies and the ways in which technological advancements may transform the CMs cycle and thus the stocks, flows, and processing of materials, as well as effectiveness of decarbonization measures, are poorly understood. Therefore, this paper provides a basis to systematically understand the effects of emissions, energy, and material efficiency measures on decarbonization of the CMs cycle and, in this context, the interplay between technology, economic actors, and policy. This article met the requirements for a gold–gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13105

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:inecol:v:25:y:2021:i:2:p:359-376

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1088-1980

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Industrial Ecology is currently edited by Reid Lifset

More articles in Journal of Industrial Ecology from Yale University
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().