Evaluation of CO2 Emissions Reduction Strategies in the Iranian Cement Industry

Abstract

Portland cement as the main constituent of conventional concrete is the most widely used cementitious material in the construction industry. But Portland cement production has major environmental disadvantages, including high energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. So that production of Portland cement is accounted for 7 to 10% of global CO2 emissions. Considering the amount of Portland cement production and CO2 emissions in Iran, it can be concluded that Iran is facing environmental problems caused by cement production. Hence, various CO2 emissions mitigation strategies of Iranian cement industry have been evaluated in this study. This research work applied Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to evaluate and prioritize mitigation strategies. The obtained results showed that among the 16 strategies studied, clinker substitution (blended cement) and production of low carbon cements such as geopolymer cement were recognized as the most important strategies to reduce CO2 emissions in the Iranian cement industry.