Cement production technology improvement compared to factor 4 objectives

In this study, the effects of potential technological improvements in cement industry are compared to global goals of sustainability such as those from the Intergovernmental Panel Group for Climate Change. In other words, does the current and standard technological knowledge in the cement and concrete industry make it possible to achieve the factor 4 concept? This concept aims at reducing the CO2 emissions in developed countries in 2050 by a factor of four from their 1990 levels, after they have first been reduced by a factor of 2 by 2020. The present study shows that it seems technically possible to design concretes to meet factor 2 objectives whatever the evolution of cement production, but a technological turnaround is needed to reach factor 4 objectives. This technological shift will require not only changes in concrete raw materials and mix designs, but also new building techniques, using less materials for the same final structure. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.