Environmental and Resource assessment for uptake of LC3 in India’s cement mix
This study undertaken to ascertain the potential sustainable impact of LC3 in India's cement mix. Conducting a comparative analysis of the environmental and resource performance between two diverse cement production scenarios - Business As Usual and Low-Carbon Pathway (LCP), the study concludes that introduction and growing proportion of LCPs have a better environmental and resource performance - thereby establishing the legitimacy of LC3 as the cement for sustainable future in India.
The IBM data shows that the non-ceramic grade china clay is widely available in India, overlapping with existing cement plants and captive mines. Moreover, in terms of resource performance, all LCPs generate a fair amount of Limestone savings, support utilization of non-cement grade Limestone and non-ceramic grade china clay.
In this study, LCP-3 scenario represents the most aggressive pathway and involves highest penetration of LC3 in the Indian cement mix. Thus, implementing LCP-3 scenario would provide the highest environmental and resource benefits compared to BAU. Between 2022-2047, the cumulative CO2 savings that would result from this scenario are 1221 million tonnes, which is 45% of India’s current GHG emissions. It is observed that the terminal value of the clinker factor for LCP-3 scenario will approach 0.59. This matches the target of 0.58 set up in the low carbon roadmap envisaged for sustainable production in India by WBCSD. Alternatively, WBCSD has considered five important levers (which does not include LC3
) that will help attain the targeted clinker factor value namely AFR, thermal and electrical efficiency, clinker substitution, WHR, and newer technologies.
