Emissions Investigating of Carbon Dioxide Generated by the Iraqi Cement Industry

Abstract

The most used material in the world after water is concrete, which depends mainly on its manufacture of cement leading to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), flying dust, and other greenhouse gasses (GHGs) resulting in pollution of the atmosphere. The emission of CO2 from cement production is approximately 5% of the global anthropogenic CO2. This research focuses on investigating the amount of CO2 emission from the Iraqi General Cement Company plants includes the cement factories of Kirkuk, Al-Qa’em, Fallujah, and Kubaisa, using the GHGs Protocol Measures Program (specifically cement based-method). The data required for cement production was provided by the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals throughout 25 years. The results showed that the largest amount of CO2 emissions cumulatively over 25 years was from the Kubaisa plant with an average emission amount of approximately 7,613,605 tons/25 years. While the lowest cumulative amount of emission was by Fallujah cement plant represented by about 868,341 tons/25 years. On the other hand, the highest and lowest production amount was from Kubaisa and Fallujah plants at 105% and 0.6% in 1989 and 2008 respectively relative to the design capacity. Shifting to renewable and clean energies that limit the amount of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere is highly recommended, although this requires facing problematic challenges.