A comparative life cycle assessment for sustainable cement production in Turkey

Abstract

Recently, a considerable increase has occurred in cement manufacturing, which is a highly energy intensive, resource consuming, and carbon emission industry based on industrialization and urbanization. In order to minimize the adverse effects from this industry on climate change, ecosystem quality, human health, and resources for cement production, it is very important to assess the potential environmental impacts of the cement production process. In this study, a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of cement production with traditional raw material and fuel (traditional scenario [TS]) and alternative raw material and fuel (alternative scenario [AS]) usage were performed in accordance with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040 and 14044 standards. The scope of the study was determined as “cradle to gate” including raw material acquisition, transportation, and manufacturing stages. The functional units were 1 ton of clinker and 1 ton of cement. SimaPro 8.0.4 software was used for the LCA, and impact assessment was carried out using the IMPACT 2002 + method. As a result of the LCA for clinker production, the overall environmental impact was reduced by approximately 12% in the AS. According to damage assessment, the effects on climate change, human health, ecosystem quality, and resources decreased 1.4%, 27%, 10%, and 11%, respectively. The use of alternative fuel and raw material had approximately 3% positive impact on overall environmental burden of clinker production. Considering cement types, the lowest environmental impacts were determined for CEM IV and CEM II based on trass usage.