2050

2045
2035

2040

Technology Roadmap
Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Table of contents
Foreword

Acknowledgements

Key findings
Key actions in the next ten years

Introduction
Objective of the roadmap

Roadmap approach and scope

Overview of cement manufacturing

Indian cement manufacturing at a glance

10

Efforts towards low-carbon cement production in India

11

Vision for deployment to 2050

13

Carbon emissions reduction levers

Technology: co-processing of alternative fuels and raw materials (AFRs)

17

Technology: thermal and electrical energy efficiency

20

Technology: clinker substitution

23

Technology: waste heat recovery

26

Technology: newer technologies

27

Reduction potential from captive power generation

30

What policy support is needed?

Encourage and facilitate increased alternative fuel use

32

Promote the adoption of best available technologies for new and retrofit kilns

33

Encourage and facilitate increased clinker substitution

34

Facilitate the development of CCS and biofuels production and use by the cement industry

34

Encourage policies for predictable, objective and stable CO2 constraints

and energy frameworks on an international level

35

Enhance research and development capabilities, skills, expertise and innovation

36

Encourage international collaboration and public-private partnerships

36

Investment needs, financial support and recommendations

38

Roadmap action plan

40

Annex A: Glossary

43

Annex B: Abbreviations, acronyms and units of measurement

44

Annex C: References

46

Annex D: Model methodology and assumptions

47

Annex E: Definition of reference, best available technology

and target average performance

50

Annex F: Process of roadmap development

51

Roadmap partners

52

17

32

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Foreword
Current trends in energy supply and use are
unsustainable economically, environmentally and
socially. Without decisive action, energy-related
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) will more than
double by 2050 and increased fuel demand will
heighten concerns over the security of supplies. We
can and must change our current path, but this will
take an energy revolution and low-carbon energy
technologies will have a crucial role to play. We
must also ensure that investment decisions taken
in the near term do not saddle us with sub-optimal
technologies in the long term. Every major country
and sector of the economy must be involved.
Awareness is growing of the urgent need to
turn political statements and analytical work
into concrete action. To spark this movement,
the International Energy Agency (IEA) is leading
the development of a series of roadmaps for
key industries and some of the most important
technologies. By identifying the steps needed
to implement radical technology changes, these
roadmaps will enable governments, industries and
financial partners to make the right choices. This
will in turn help countries and societies make the
right decisions.
Since 2002, cement-producing companies in the
Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), a project of the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
(WBCSD), have collectively made significant
progress on measuring, reporting and mitigating
their CO2 emissions, and sharing their progress
with the rest of the cement industry. In 2009,
recognising the urgency of identifying technology to
reduce the energy use and CO2 intensity of cement
production, CSI member companies around the
world (representing about 30% of global cement
production) worked with the IEA to develop the first
industry roadmap. That roadmap outlines emissions
reduction potential from all technologies that can be
implemented in the cement industry.

Building on the success of the global roadmap, IEA

and CSI, in collaboration with the Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Council
for Cement and Building Materials (NCB), joined
together to develop a roadmap specifically for
the Indian cement industry. This initiative was
supported and part-funded by the International
Finance Corporation (IFC).
In 2010, the Indian cement industrys share of the
countrys total energy and process CO2 emissions
was around 7%. Taking into account the specificities
of the Indian context, markets and opportunities,
this roadmap outlines a possible transition path for
the Indian cement industry to support the global
goal of halving CO2 emissions by 2050. The roadmap
estimates that the Indian cement industry would
reduce its direct CO2 emissions intensity to 0.35
tonnes (t) of CO2/t cement in 2050, about 45% lower
than current levels, a saving of between 212million
tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) and 367MtCO2 compared
to a business-as-usual scenario. This is nearly as
much as the 2009 total energy-related emissions
of Thailand (228MtCO2) or Indonesia (376MtCO2).
Despite this improvement in CO2 intensity, the total
emissions, however, would rise from the current
137MtCO2 to between 275MtCO2 and 468MtCO2 in
2050 due to rapid growth in cement demand, in line
with economic growth in India.
The vision is realistic; the targeted reductions
ambitious. The changes required must be practical,
realistic and achievable. This roadmap is a first
step. It is attainable only with a supportive policy
framework and appropriate financial resources
invested over the long term. The roadmap outlines
these policies, estimates financial requirements,
and describes technical changes, along with
making recommendations to support research
and development and future decision making
for investment.

Maria van der Hoeven

Executive Director, IEA

Kuldip Kaura
CEO and Managing Director
(ACC Ltd., project co-chair)

Peter Bakker
President, WBCSD

Ratan K Shah
Group Executive President
and Chief Manufacturing Officer
(UltraTech Cement Ltd., project co-chair)

Mahendra Singhi
Executive Director
(Shree Cement, project co-chair)

Foreword

Acknowledgements
This publication was prepared jointly by the
International Energy Agency (IEA) Directorate
of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology
and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Developments Cement Sustainability Initiative
(WBCSD CSI). It was developed under the lead of
Caroline Twigg (WBCSD CSI) and Nathalie Trudeau
(IEA). Cecilia Tam and Dagmar Graczyk from the IEA
provided significant input and support throughout
the development of this roadmap.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) provided
essential input to the development of this roadmap,
including co-authoring the technical papers that fed
into it and overseeing stakeholder outreach, led by
Kiran Ananth. AKMishra, SKChaturvedi and SNPati
of the National Council for Cement and Building
Materials (NCB) co-authored the technical papers.
The scope of this project has been expanded thanks
to financial support from the International Finance
Corporation (IFC). Thanks go to this organisation for
its support, in particular Sivaram Krishnamoorthy.
This work was guided by the IEA Committee on
Energy Research and Technology. Bo Diczfalusy,
Director of the Directorate of Sustainable Energy
Policy and Technology, Jean-Franois Gagn, Head
of the Energy Technology Policy Division and Lew
Fulton, former Head of the Energy Technology
Policy Division, provided guidance and input.

The authors would also like to thank the IEA

publication unit, especially Muriel Custodio, Astrid
Dumond, Rebecca Gaghen, Cheryl Haines, Bertrand
Sadin and Marilyn Smith for their assistance, in
particular on editing, layout and design.
Finally, the authors would like to thank the industry,
government and non-government experts who
attended meetings, reviewed and commented
on drafts, and provided feedback and guidance.
The complete list of participants and reviewers is
available from IEA and WBCSD websites (www.iea.
org/roadmaps and www.wbcsdcement.org/indiatech-roadmap).
For more information on this document, contact:
Nathalie Trudeau, IEA Secretariat
Tel. +33 (0) 1 40 57 66 79
Email: [email protected]
Caroline Twigg, WBCSD CSI
Tel. +91 11 3352 1527
Email: [email protected]
Roland Hunziker, WBCSD CSI
Tel. +41 22 839 3100
Email: [email protected]

Special thanks go to:

zzT he Expert Working Group Co-Chairs in India

(ACC Ltd., Shree Cement, UltraTech Cement

Ltd.): SJHerwadkar, KN Rao and Daniel Raju for
their input and guidance throughout the project;
zzT he full Expert Working Group: Rakesh

Bhargava, Jagdish Dhumale, Dominic Fernandes,

R. Gopi, Ashish Gupta, Sanjay Jain, SA Khadilkar,
Sajid Khan, Jitander Kumar, UV Parlikar, L.
Rajasekar, Sandeep Shrivastava, R.Vasudevan
and PS Raju; and
zzC SI members of the global Task Force

Climate Protection: Rob van der Meer, Bruno

Vanderborght, Manuela Ojan and Volker Hoenig.
Thanks go to NA Viswanathan and SKHandoo
from the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA)
India for engagement in the roadmap development
process.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Key findings
The Indian cement industry is one of the
most efficient in the world, yet, because the
manufacturing process relies on the burning of
limestone (calcium carbonate), it still produces
137million tonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in
2010 approximately 7% of Indias total man-made
CO2 emissions.
zzT he Indian cement industry has made strong

efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by

adopting the best available technologies (BAT)
and environmental practices. Through this, it
has successfully reduced total CO2 emissions
to an industrial average of 0.719tonnes (t) of
CO2/tcement in 2010 from a substantially higher
level of 1.12tCO2/tcement in 1996.
zzIn the absence of policy actions or technology

development,1 i.e. in a business-as-usual

scenario, CO2 emissions from the Indian cement
industry are projected to reach between
488MtCO2 and 835MtCO2 by 2050. This
represents a 255% to 510% increase compared
to current emissions.
zzT he technologies, policy frameworks and

investment needs outlined in this roadmap

could reduce CO2 intensity in the Indian cement
industry by about 45% by 2050, from the 2010
level. This would limit CO2 emissions growth
to between 100% (Low-Demand Case) and
240% (High-Demand Case) compared to the
current level.

zzCaptive power plants (CPPs) offer important

energy security enhancement and emissions

reduction opportunity. Assuming that CPP will
continue to account for 60% of the cement
electricity needs in 2050, as much as 80MtCO2
to 150MtCO2 could be saved through efficiency
improvement and use of alternative energy
sources.
zzT he additional investment required in the Indian

cement industry (based on net present value)

to achieve the CO2 emissions reduction set
out in this roadmap is between USD29 billion
and USD50billion (INR145 000crore 2 and
INR250000crore), or 15% to 25% higher than
in a business-as-usual scenario.
zzTo ensure widespread deployment and

implementation of such technologies in the

future, social acceptance, political will and
policy development, and financing mechanisms,
must be supportive.

2. In this roadmap, INR denotes the Indian rupee and USD the United
States dollar; an exchange rate of USD1 = INR50 has been used.
INR1crore = INR10000000 (USD200000).

zzT he milestones for the Indian cement industry

set out in this roadmap would enhance energy

security by saving between 377petajoules (PJ)
and 485PJ of energy in 2050 compared to a
business-as-usual scenario.
zzKey levers to reduce emissions in the Indian

cement industry are increased rates of blending

leading to a reduction in clinker-to-cement ratio,
increased use of alternative fuels, widespread
implementation of waste heat recovery (WHR)
systems, and a radical step change in new
technology development to bring potential
technologies from research and development
(R&D) to deployment. As energy efficiency in
the Indian cement industry is already high, there
is limited scope for improvement in this area,
providing continued use of energy efficient
technologies in new plants.

1. S
 ee Box 1 page 6 for more information on the different scenarios
used in this roadmap.

Key findings

Key actions in the next ten years

Decisive action by all stakeholders is critical to
realise the vision laid out in this roadmap (see
Roadmap action plan on page 40). To achieve the
envisioned levels of efficiency improvements and
emissions reduction, government and industry must
take collaborative action. An investment climate that
will stimulate the scale of financing required must
be created. In particular:
zzA ll stakeholders in India should intensify

national and international collaboration to drive

implementation of BAT and existing know-how,
and to share experience and knowledge. The
Indian cement industry should deploy existing
state-of-the-art technologies in new cement
plants and retrofit existing plants with energy
efficient equipment when commercially viable.
zzAt the cement plant level across the country,

assessments should be performed to analyse

how low-carbon technologies can be
implemented, and action plans developed to
increase the speed and scale of implementation.
CSI member companies in India have started this
targeted work as an immediate follow-up from
the India roadmap project.3
zzT he Government of India needs to ensure strong

regulations and standards are in place to enable

increased use of clinker substitutes, and should
support allocation of good quality linkage coal
to the cement industry so low-grade limestone
reserves can be used and the cement industry
can consume surplus fly ash from coal-based
power generation units. Waste legislation is
also required to support the use of alternative
fuels and raw materials (AFR) in cement kilns.
Emissions monitoring must be regulated.

zzPublic and market barriers that currently

impede co-processing4 (e.g. for hazardous

waste) and AFR use in India must be addressed
through modified regulation, awareness-raising
campaigns and industry training. Awarenessraising and education is also required to ensure
acceptance of blended cement by the Indian
market and widespread dissemination.
zzE xpand public awareness campaigns,

international collaboration and financing for

demonstration of carbon capture and carbon
use at cement plants. Develop near-term
approaches to facilitate carbon capture and use
demonstration.
zzGlobally, elaborate approaches to facilitate

carbon capture and storage (CCS)

demonstration andestablish the technical and
commercial viability of CCS.
zzFor new and alternative technologies, such

as nanotechnology and geopolymer cement,

government to ensure sustained funding and
support mechanisms are in place nationally and
internationally to support their development
and deployment to offer potential for CO2
emissions reduction. Provide a major thrust in
R&D to move through pilot to demonstration
phases to widespread deployment. For existing
technologies, Government of India must
develop policy and fiscal incentives. Regulatory
frameworks must also support greater financial
viability of WHR power generation, including
providing WHR with renewable energy status
and providing associated incentives.
4. C
 o-processing is the use of suitable waste materials form municipal
areas or other industries in manufacturing processes, as a
substitute for primary fuel or for raw materials.

3. Please refer to Box 2 page 7 for more information on this project.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Introduction
Objective of the roadmap
The collaboration to develop the Technology
Roadmap: Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian
Cement Industry stemmed from the previous joint
effort, by the IEA and WBCSD, to publish a global
strategy entitled Cement Technology Roadmap 2009
(IEA/WBCSD, 2009). 5 The global roadmap outlines
four key levers, and policy and financial support
necessary, to reduce CO2 emissions within the
cement manufacturing process. Understanding the
potential of such a roadmap to identify and trigger
emissions reduction up to 2050, the members of the
CSI in India, through the WBCSD, have partnered
with the IEA to elaborate a roadmap specifically for
India. The roadmap has been technically supported
and part-funded by IFC.
If current trajectories were to continue without
intervention, by 2050, emissions from cement
manufacture in India would reach between
488MtCO2 and 835MtCO2, a 255% to 510% increase
compared to todays level. This roadmap aims to
identify technologies (especially those with particular
relevance to India), supportive policy frameworks
and investment needs that could lead to direct
emissions6 reduction of about 0.28tCO2/tcement
produced i.e. from 0.63tCO2/tcement in 2010
to 0.35tCO2/tcement in 2050. Such a reduction in
emission intensity would limit the growth in CO2
emissions from the cement industry to between
100% and 240% compared to the current level.
This roadmap outlines an action plan for specific
stakeholders to show the short- and longer-term
priorities to reach such emissions reduction (see
page 40). It also establishes a strategy to support
industry in decoupling its expected future growth
rates from growth in CO2 emissions, primarily
through the implementation of energy efficiency
measures and equipment, switching to less CO2intensive energy sources, decreasing clinker-tocement ratio and applying new technologies
(where possible).

envisaged in this roadmap would be available and

sustainable. An analysis of the materials required
and of the other sectors competing for the resources
in India should also be undertaken.

Roadmap approach
and scope
Roadmap partners
This roadmap has been developed by multiple
partners (outlined on page 52) bringing specialised
expertise from India and around the world. The
IEA has overseen data analysis and modelling
to understand the impact of the various levers
identified on energy efficiency improvement and
emissions reduction potential. Industry experts
from the CSI companies across India have brought
technical expertise from their own experience.
The CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre has
conducted a detailed survey on the cement industry
data and brought specialised expertise in energy
efficiency and alternative fuel use. The National
Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB)
brought expertise in R&D and new technology to the
drafting of the technical papers; and the CMA has
been involved in the roadmap development process,
and has helped validate the data used as being
representative of the industry India-wide. IFC has
part-funded the roadmap development as well as a
further Phase II, outlined in Box 2 on page7.

Roadmap drafting

Such a low-carbon transition within the Indian

cement industry would be impacted by and have
impacts on other economic sectors, for example
related to AFR availability. While the scope of this
roadmap is the Indian cement industry, additional
analysis should be undertaken to ensure that the
levels of alternative fuels and blending materials

The roadmap is based on a set of 27 technical

papers developed by CII and NCB.7 These
papers, collectively titled Existing and Potential
Technologies for Carbon Emissions Reductions in the
Indian Cement Industry (WBCSD, 2012), outline
the current status of each technology, the impact
on energy consumption and anticipated benefits
from implementation, the CO2 reduction potential,
main parameters influencing implementation,
cost estimation, and the conditions, barriers and
constraints of implementation. The papers have fed
into the roadmap modelling by providing Indiaspecific, up-to-date information on technology
performances and costs, their benefits in terms of
thermal and electrical savings, and their emissions
reduction potential.8

5. The global Cement Technology Roadmap 2009 is available at: www.

wbcsdcement.org/technology and www.iea.org/roadmaps.

7. T
 he process of roadmap development can be found in Annex F.

6. Direct emissions from cement manufacturing process. Does not

include inderect emissions from the production of electricity.

8. T
 he technical papers are available at: www.wbcsdcement.org/
india-tech-roadmap.

Introduction

Alongside the development of the technical papers,

energy and emissions data were collected from 65%
of the Indian cement industry through the CSIs
Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) database9 and
detailed questionnaires to the industry. The results
have been extrapolated and are considered to be
9. www.wbcsdcement.org/gnr.

representative of the India cement industry. These

materials were used by the IEA to model potential
impacts of each lever in relation to overall targets for
emissions reduction. The model has been developed
in response to the IEA 2C Scenario (2DS) and its two
variants, based on demand for materials: the Lowand High-Demand Cases (Box1).

Box1: Scenarios used in this roadmap

The IEA Energy Technology Perspectives 2012
(ETP2012) uses extensive modelling to examine
possible scenarios of global energy demand in
the future, beginning with a simple extension
of current trajectories and then identifying
technology, policy and pricing options needed to
reach specific targets at the lowest cost.
The 6C Scenario (6DS), which serves as the
baseline scenario for this roadmap, is largely an
extension of current trends, with no effort on
the part of government, industry or the general
public to curb emissions. By 2050, global energy
use in the 6DS almost doubles (compared with
2009) and total emissions rise even more. In
the absence of efforts to stabilise atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gas, average global
temperature rise is projected to be at least 6C
in the long term. While autonomous energy
efficiency is observed, this scenario expects
no major shifts in technology or in the energy
consumption mix for the industrial sector. As a
result, global CO2 emissions from all industry are
45% to 65% higher in 2050 than in 2010, and
reach between 12.2gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 and
13.7GtCO2 (IEA, 2012).
By contrast, the 2DS is target driven: it starts with
the aim of limiting the increase in global average
temperature to 2C and examines how to achieve
the deep emissions cuts (including CO2 and
other greenhouse gases such as methane and
nitrous oxides) required to at least halve global
emissions by 2050. This does not mean that
industry needs to reduce its emissions by over
50%; rather, reaching this objective in the most
cost-effective way requires each economic sector
in each country to contribute, based on its costs
of abatement. Under this scenario, annual global
industrial emissions would be 6.7GtCO2 in 2050,
about 20% less than current levels. For India, a
detailed analysis was performed in collaboration
with the India ETP expert group (IEA, 2011), and
updated in ETP 2012. The analysis indicated that
total industrial emissions would reach between
0.8GtCO2 and 1.1GtCO2 in 2050.

Given the recent global economic crisis and

uncertainties about projecting long-term growth
in materials consumption, two variants have been
developed for each industry and for each scenario
in the analysis presented in ETP: with materials
being the product in demand, the text refers to
a Low-Demand Case and a High-Demand Case.
The difference in global materials production
in 2050 for the Low- and High-Demand Case
varies between 15% and 35% depending on the
industry. Both the 2DS Low- and High-Demand
Cases are driven by the same level of global CO2
emissions reduction in 2050; the High-Demand
Case requires greater reductions in emissions
levels than the Low-Demand Case. As a result,
costs are also higher in the High-Demand Case.
The scenarios are based on existing technologies,
but take an optimistic view of further technology
development and assume that new technologies
are adopted as they become cost-competitive.
They also assume that non-technical barriers are
overcome, including social acceptance, proper
regulatory frameworks and information deficits.
The analysis does not assess the likelihood of
these assumptions being fulfilled, but it is clear
that deep CO2 reductions can be achieved only
if all sectors of society (industry, government,
communities) contribute collectively.
These scenarios are not predictions. They are
internally consistent analyses of pathways that
may be available to meet energy policy objectives,
given a certain set of technology assumptions.
This roadmap provides an outline of the potential
emissions reduction, pricing and CO2 abatement
in the Indian cement industry from the 6DS to
the 2DS, the ambitious yet necessary scenario
the cement industry is aiming towards. Key
performance indicators are shown only for the
2DS as this is the goal the cement industry in
India aims to achieve.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Roadmap scope and boundary

This roadmap sets out one pathway by which the
Indian cement industry can reach its targets to
improve energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions
by 2050, thereby laying the foundation for lowcarbon growth in the years beyond. Emissions
reduction potential provided in this roadmap is
based on direct emissions.
The roadmap focuses on the cement manufacturing
process only from surface mining/quarrying10 to
the sale of cement to consumer, and discusses the
energy and emissions reduction levers specific to
the cement manufacturing process. Recognising
the important contribution that CPP can provide
in India both to enhance energy security and
to reduce emissions, a section of this roadmap
is dedicated to CPP. Yet, it is out of scope of
the cement manufacturing process and so not
included in the data modelling. Furthermore,
while it is acknowledged that additional resource
use and emissions are associated with the process
of using cement in concrete, and concretes
eventual disposal, these aspects also fall beyond
the scope of this roadmap. Similarly, locating the
main clinkerisation unit near limestone deposits,
transporting the clinker through ocean and rail
networks, and locating cement grinding or cement-

packing units near the fly ash or slag sources and

near consumption centres referred to as split
located units would reduce the carbon intensity
through decreased emissions from transport of raw
materials, blended materialsand finished products.
Split located units are increasingly being developed
in India, but their impact on overall emission fall
outside the boundaries of this roadmap.
CSI globally is undertaking detailed work to
understand the use of concrete as a sustainable
construction material and its potential role in
improving the global efficiency of the building
sector.

10. I
n India, mine refers to both open cast/surface mine (in Europe,
this is quarry) and underground mine.

Box 2:Phase II: plant-level studies and technology implementation

This roadmap outlines potential CO2 emissions
reduction through the implementation
of several levers in the Indian cement
industry.These levers are based ona set of
technical papers developed within the project.
To better understand how such emissions
reduction can be driven at a plant level, CSI
members in India are undergoing a Phase II
of the project, stemming from this roadmap.
Phase II will include undertaking a detailed
study to explore the resource efficiency
opportunities at a manufacturing facility or
plant level. The studies will be a combination
of on-site work and desk study. These studies
will identify various opportunities for resource
efficiency (energy savings, material savings,
renewable energy options, CO2 emissions

reduction, etc.) at a particular industrial facility.

Enabled by partial funding and technical
support from IFC, member companies of CSI
in India are each overseeing a technical and
economic assessment at one of their plants, to
determine which of the technologies could be
implemented and how. It is hoped that these
studies, as well as in-depth studies on specific
technologies,will lead to a fuller understanding
of the potential benefits of implementing CO2reducing technologies at a plant level. The
learning from this process will be shared among
the industry and other stakeholders, resulting
in public benefitsin the cement industry (e.g.
greenhouse-gas emissions reduction), primarily
in India as well at aglobal level.

Introduction

Overview of cement manufacturing

Cement is the essential glue in concrete, a
fundamental building material for societys
infrastructure around the world. There are two basic
types of cement production process and a number
of different kiln types. These are referred as either

wet or dry, depending on the water content

of the raw material feedstock. The wet process
consumes more energy to evaporate the 30% plus
slurry water before heating the raw materials to the
necessary temperature for calcination.

Figure1: Cement manufacturing at a glance: dry process kiln with calciner

Notes: Figure 1 shows dry cement process. There are older much less efficient technologies, for example the wet kiln into which the
raw material is fed as slurry and not as a powder (dry kiln).
Source: Adapted from diagram by HeidelbergCement Group.

The cement manufacturing process is complex,

involving multiple steps that require specialised
equipment. Energy input is required at every stage,
and various processes lead to emissions of CO2 and
other greenhouse gases. Thus, a roadmap focusing
on improving energy efficiency and reducing
emissions must carefully examine opportunities at
each step of the process.

1. S
 urface mining/quarrying
raw materials
Naturally occurring calcareous deposits, such
as limestone, marl or chalk, provide the calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) that comprises the raw materials
of cement. As these are extracted from surface
mines/quarries, a first consideration in energy
efficiency is often to locate cement plants close to
the source of raw material.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

2. Crushing
After the raw material is mined and transported to
the cement plant, the first step is to feed it through
the primary/secondary crushers, which break it down
into pieces approximately 10centimetres (cm) in size.

3. and 4. Prehomogenisation
and raw meal grinding
Prehomogenisation is a process by which different
raw materials are mixed to obtain the chemical
composition required for the end use of a given
batch of cement. Very small amounts of corrective
materials such as iron ore, bauxite, shale, clay or sand
may be needed to provide extra iron oxide (Fe2O3),
alumina (Al2O3) and silica (SiO2) to adapt the chemical
composition of the raw mix to the process and
product requirements of cement manufacturing. The
crushed pieces are then milled together to produce
raw meal. To ensure high cement quality, the
chemistry of the raw materials and raw meal is very
carefully monitored and controlled.

5. Coal grinding/kiln fuel preparation

Coal is ground into fine powder to enable it to feed
into the kiln as a fuel, to generate the required heat
for calcination.

6. Preheating
One means to improve the efficiency of the process
is to pre-heat the raw meal before it enters the kiln,
which stimulates faster chemical reactions. A preheater is a series of vertical cyclones through which
the raw meal is passed, coming into contact with
swirling hot gases moving in the opposite direction.
As these gases are exhaust from the kilns, efficiency
is gained by using heat generated by one production
process to provide energy needed for another.
Depending on the moisture content of the raw
material, a kiln may have up to six stages of cyclones
with higher temperatures obtained through
increased heat recovery at each extra stage.

7. Precalcining
Calcination is the decomposition of limestone to
lime. The required reactions, which also need heat
energy inputs, are stimulated at two points in the
manufacturing process: within the precalciner,
a combustion chamber at the bottom of the preheater above the kiln, and within the kiln itself.
This is the first point of the manufacturing process
at which emissions are produced: the chemical
decomposition of limestone typically accounts for
60% to 65% of total emissions. The fuel combustion

needed to generate heat in the precalciner also

produces emissions, accounting for about 65% of
the remainder of total emissions.

8. Clinker production in the rotary kiln

The precalcined meal then enters the kiln, where
intense heat up to 1450C causes chemical
and physical reactions that partially melt the meal
into clinker, an intermediate product in cement
manufacturing that becomes the main substance
in cement and is commonly traded. Fuel is fired
directly into the kiln: as the kiln rotates, about
three to five times per minute, the material slides
and tumbles down towards the flame, through
progressively hotter zones.

9. Cooling and storing

From the kiln, the hot clinker falls onto a grate
cooler where it is cooled by incoming combustion
air, thereby minimising energy loss from the system.
A typical cement plant will have clinker storage
facilities between clinker production and the plant
components that handle blending and/or grinding.

10. Blending
Increasingly, cement producers are using materials
such as slag, fly ash, limestone or other mineral
components to reduce the amount of clinker
required for a given batch of cement. In such cases,
the end product is called blended cement; it can
be customised to provide characteristics needed for
the end-use. For example, all cement types contain
around 4% to 5% gypsum to control the setting
time of the product.

11. Cement grinding

The cooled clinker and/or blended mixture is ground
into a grey powder, known as Ordinary Portland
Cement (OPC), or ground with other mineral
components to make blended cement. Traditionally,
cement plants used ball mills for grinding. Today,
more efficient technologies including roller presses
and vertical mills are used in many modern plants.
Wider deployment could further improve efficiency
of the industry as a whole.

12. Storing in the cement silo

Once homogenised, the final product is stored in
cement silos, ready to be dispatched either to a
packing station (for bagged cement) or to a silo truck.

Overview of cement manufacturing

Indian cement manufacturing at a glance

The Indian cement industry is the second-largest in
the world, after China. In 2010/11, about 183large
cement plants were in operation, owned by over
40 companies across India (Figure2). In 2012,
total installed capacity is around 320Mt. Average
kiln capacity is currently 4500tonnes per day
(tpd), with the largest kilns reaching a capacity of
13500tpd. Small cement plants in India account

for a small share of the total installed capacity

(less than 5%). About 20% of WHR potential in the
country is tapped i.e. 110megawatt (MW) of an
estimated overall potential of around 555MW and
about 60% of the power requirement for cement
manufacture in India is from CPP.

Figure2: Indian cement industry

This map is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any
territory, city or area.

Source: Adapted from Cement Manufacturers Association Basic Data 2012.

10

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Annual production of cement in India rose from

95Mt in 2000 to about 220Mt in 2010, an
average increase of almost 10% per year. Three
main factors have prompted this growth: the real
estate boom since 2004; increased investments
in infrastructure by both the private sector and
government; and higher government spending on
various social programmes (which often require
construction). Despite this strong growth, the
2010 cement consumption of 188kilogrammes per
capita (kg/capita) is one of the lowest in the world
and less than half of the global average of 450kg/
capita. Although the energy intensity per tonne
of product for cement manufacturing is less than
that of other energy-intensive materials (such as
aluminium and steel), the volume of production
is much higher. At present, the cement industry
is the third-largest energy consumer and secondlargest CO2 emitter in Indias manufacturing sector.
It produces approximately 7% of Indias man-made
CO2 emissions.11
Based on the technology characteristics and
data available from large cement producers,
the thermal and electrical efficiencies of
Indias cement production clearly surpass the
world average. The Indian industrys average
thermal energy consumption is estimated
to be about 725kilocalories (kcal)/kg clinker
(3.04gigajoules[GJ]/t) and the average
electrical energy use is about 80kilowatt hour
(kWh)/tcement, much lower than the global average
of 934kcal/kg clinker (3.9GJ/t) and 107kWh/t
cement. As accessible limestone reserves in India
are limited, particularly for high-grade limestone;
the primary raw material used is a low-grade
limestone with a fairly low CaCO3 content compared
to that used in other countries. This means that the
raw materials have to be used as completely and
efficiently as possible. The burnability of this lowgrade limestone is very easy.
Future projections for population growth and
economic development in India will drive a rapid
increase in demand for concrete, highlighting the
urgent need to bring energy consumption and
emissions under control.

Efforts towards low-carbon

cement production in India
Almost 99% of the installed capacity in India uses
dry process manufacturing, and about 50% of
capacity has been built in the last ten years. The
industry has been adopting the latest technologies
for energy conservation and pollution control, as
well as online process and quality control based
on state-of-the-art automation systems. However,
co-generation of power and heat through WHR, AFR
utilisation, and technologies for low nitrogen oxide
(NOx) emissions have not penetrated significantly.
The power demand required for various emission
abatement technologies in India is fairly low
compared to other regions for example Europe.
Coal is the major fuel stock for cement production
in India, primarily because it is a readily available
and low-cost domestic resource. However, Indian
coal is of lower quality than most coals found
elsewhere: the typical calorific value is 4400kcal/kg
(18.4megajoules [MJ]/t) in Europe, cement
plants use bituminous coal with calorific values of
around 6162kcal/kg (25.8 MJ/t) and petcoke of
around 7762kcal/kg (32.5 MJ/t). In India, petcoke
(produced in Indian refineries) accounts for 10%
to 15% of fuel used: it has a higher calorific value
(i.e. provides more energy per unit) but also a high
sulphur content (resulting in higher sulphur oxide
emissions). Imported coal is used if required, but is
significantly more expensive.
The Indian cement industrys efforts to reduce its
carbon footprint by adopting the best available
technologies and environmental practices
are reflected in the achievement of reducing
total CO2 emissions to an industrial average of
0.719tCO2/tcement in 2010 from a substantially
higher level of 1.12tCO2/tcement in 1996.
Yet opportunity for improvement exists, particularly
in relation to five key levers that can contribute to
emissions reduction:
zzalternative fuel and raw materials (AFR);
zzthermal and electrical energy efficiency;
zzclinker substitution;
zzwaste heat recovery (WHR); and
zznewer technologies.

11. For more information on specifics of the Indian cement industry,

refer to the report Technical Papers for the Indian Cement Industry
- Looking Behind the Data, by the European Cement Research
Academy (ECRA, 2012) available from www.wbcsdcement.org/
india-tech-roadmap.

Alternative fuel and raw materials: to date, AFR

use is a very low 0.6% of thermal energy across
India, compared to a global average of about 4%,
but the cement industry has increased its focus on

Indian cement manufacturing at a glance

11

AFR utilisation by using newer industrial, municipal

and agricultural wastes. Substantial scope exists to
enhance waste utilisation, particularly hazardous
and combustible wastes. Indian waste policy,
however, does not support co-incineration of
waste by industry, so permitting procedures can
be difficult, and public acceptance of this practice
is low. Moreover, logistics to transport AFR from
the site of generation to cement plants is often
complex. However, recognising this as a key lever
for CO2 emissions reduction, the industry is working
to achieve international best practices of waste
utilisation.
Thermal and electrical energy efficiency: the best
levels of specific energy consumption achieved by
some Indian cement plants, at 680kcal/kgclinker
(2.85GJ/t) and 66kWh/tcement, are comparable
with the best in the world. A number of plants
installed before the 1990s have been modernised
to a limited extent by retrofitting with new
technologies. However, they need to prioritise
bringing specific energy consumption levels closer
to the best achieved levels in the Indian industry
by further modernisation and adoption of best
available processes and technologies.
The Indian cement standards as outlined by the
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) are appropriate
for the national context with respect to market,
available materials and ambient conditions. The
testing and standard requirements means cement
producers in India can fulfilrequired quality
specifications at a cement finenesswhich is
somewhat lower than the fineness at which cement
is ground in other regions of the world. The easy
burnability of the raw meal across India allows
the Indian cement industry to coarsely grind the
material. In addition, the grinding equipment used is
predominantly new and modern. The combination
of these factors leads to high energy efficiency in the
raw material and cement grinding phase.

12

Clinker substitution: through adoption of waste

utilisation processes, i.e. using other industries
by-products or waste within the cement
manufacturing process, the industry is decreasing
its use of carbon-based raw materials. Production
of blended cements, such as Portland Pozzolana
Cement (PPC) and Portland Slag Cement (PSC) is
increasing year on year. In 2010/11, the blended
cement percentage was as high as 67% of total
cement produced, compared to only 37% in
2000/01.
For use in blending, fly ash has to be ground
because it is delivered quite coarse from the power
plants and is mainly inter-ground directly with the
clinker. The combination of grinding and blending
characteristics, and standards in India, result in
more cement being needed per cubic metre of
concrete than in other countries in the world.
Waste heat recovery: the adoption of WHR systems
in Indian cement manufacturing facilities has been
relatively slow compared to other countries. Out of
about 183 large cement kilns in the country, only
12 have adopted WHR systems. The high initial
investment is currently deterring manufacturers
from adopting WHR systems.
Newer technologies: several newer technologies
are under various stages of development and hold
promising reduction potential for the future.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Vision for deployment to 2050

Indias population is set to increase by almost
40% between 2010 and 2050; from 1.2billion to
1.7billion in 2050. Over the same period, the rapid
urbanisation seen recently is expected to accelerate:
from 380million people in urban areas in 2010
to an estimated 675million by 2050 (UN DESA,
2011). Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected
to increase from USD4060billion in 2010 to
USD37721billion in 2050. These trends will drive
up demand for concrete in the building sector. The
other main driver of this growth is the expected
large-scale infrastructure development such as
ports on the western coast, dams in the northern
mountainous regions, and airports in the growing
metropolitan areas. Climate change adaptation and
mitigation measures are also expected to increase

concrete use in India. While the growth in cement

demand and production in the country is expected
to slow down between 2030 and 2050, the rate of
cement demand will continue to increase.
The growth in domestic cement demand is
expected to remain strong, rising to between
465kg/capita and 810kg/capita in 2050.12 Annual
cement production is estimated to reach between
780Mt and 1360Mt by 2050 (Figure3). Under the
latter, which reflects the High-Demand Case, India
could become the worlds largest cement producer
before 2050.

12.
For more detail on assumptions and modelling framework, please
refer to Annex D.

Figure3: Projected growth of cement production in India

1 600

Million tonnes of cement

1 400
1 200
1 000
800
600
400
200
0
2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

Low-Demand Case

2035

2040

2045

2050

High-Demand Case

KEY POINT: Cement production is projected to increase between 3.6 and 6.3fold between 2010 and 2050.

Obviously, both rates of increase in production

will have a strong impact on the overall energy
consumption of the cement industry, but the
differences are substantial. Under the 6DS,
production and energy consumption would
increase at a similar rate: about 3.2% per year
in the Low-Demand Case and 4.6% per year in
the High-Demand Case. By contrast, under the
2DS, the annual increase in energy consumption
would be limited to between 2.7% (Low-Demand
Case) and 4.1% (High-Demand Case) (Figure4).
Importantly, the energy mix in the two scenarios is

quite different. In the 6DS, fossil fuels (mostly coal)

account for almost all (99%) of the thermal energy
consumption in 2050, whereas their share drops to
75% in the 2DS with AFR accounting for 25%.
While the use of alternative fuels will help reduce
the carbon intensity of the cement industry, some of
these sources have lower energy content and higher
moisture levels than commercial fuels. Thus, they
may actually increase the required input of energy;
in some cases, extra energy may be required to treat
the AFR before feeding it into the cement kilns.

Vision for deployment to 2050

13

Figure4: Final energy consumption by energy source in the 2DS

3 000
2 500

Petajoules

2 000
1 500
1 000
500
0
2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

2010

2020

Low-Demand Case
Coal

Oil

2030

2040

2050

High-Demand Case
Natural gas

Alternative fuels

Electricity

KEY POINT: E
 nergy consumption in the cement sector between 2010 and 2050 is expected
to grow between 2.8 and 5.0fold.

average electric intensity of cement production to

70kWh/tcement and the average thermal intensity
of clinker production to about 680kcal/kgclinker
(2.85GJ/tclinker) (Table1). These improvements
in energy intensity occur despite the increase in
the share of alternative fuels to about 25% of total
cement thermal energy consumption and the
application of carbon capture technologies.

The relatively low increase in energy consumption

compared to cement production in the 2DS is
explained, in part, by improvements in energy
efficiency and a lower clinker-to-cement ratio.
The 6DS already takes into account anticipated
energy efficiency improvements without
intervention, while the 2DS reflects concerted
effort to achieve the aim, by 2050, of reducing the

Table1: Key indicators for Indian cement industry in the 2DS

Low-Demand Case

High-Demand Case

2010

2020

2030

2050

2020

2030

2050

Production (Mt)

217

416

598

780

492

848

1361

Per-capita consumption (kg/capita)

188

309

400

467

364

565

812

Clinker-to-cement ratio

0.74

0.70

0.64

0.58

0.70

0.64

0.58

Electric intensity of cement production

(kWh/tcement)

80

76

73

71

75

72

70

Thermal intensity of clinker production

(kcal/kgclinker)

725

709

694

680

703

690

678

Alternative fuel use

(as a share of thermal energy consumption) (%)

0.6

19

25

19

25

Notes: Data for 2010 is for financial year 2009/10 ending 31 March 2010. The electric intensity of cement production does not include
the reductions that may come from the use of WHR.

14

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

From the five levers considered AFR, thermal and

electrical efficiency, clinker substitution, WHR, and
newer technologies only three will play a role in
restraining the growth in energy consumption in
the Indian cement industry. Clinker substitution
and thermal efficiency will be the main contributors
to the energy savings, while WHR provides more
moderate results (Table2). AFR is not expected
to reduce energy consumption, and some
newer technologies e.g. CCS, do not contribute
to energy savings. Other newer technologies
such as nanotechnology are not expected to be
commercially available by 2050.

As the levers interact, the sum of energy savings

from the levers as a group is higher than the total
of the potential energy savings delivered by each.
For example, an increase in the clinker substitution
will lower the thermal energy requirements; and
a subsequent improvement in thermal energy
efficiency would then have a smaller overall impact
as the need for fuels will be lower. The higher
improvements in the High-Demand Case are
explained by the higher share of new plants, which
are more efficient than existing ones, compared to
the Low-Demand Case.

For AFR and CCS, the more important gains are the
savings they will generate in CO2 emissions, either
within or beyond the cement industry boundary. But
this may carry a cost: because it needs energy inputs
to operate, CCS could, in fact, increase the overall
energy requirement of the cement industry (i.e. it
carries an energy penalty for plant operation).

Table2: Potential energy savings from implementation of the different levers

Savings from 6DS to 2DS

Low-Demand Case

High-Demand Case

2020

2030

2040

2050

2020

2030

2040

2050

Total energy reduction (PJ)

65

196

304

377

77

235

395

485

Additional energy required for CCS (PJ)

40

80

111

10

64

157

221

Net energy reductions (excluding

additional energy required for CCS) (PJ)

71

237

384

488

87

298

553

706

Thermal energy efficiency

16

48

78

96

18

47

77

97

Electrical energy efficiency

12

18

22

Waste heat recovery

15

20

15

30

39

Clinker substitution

49

174

288

373

88

250

455

583

Reductions (PJ) from:

Direct CO2 emissions in the industry can be

significantly reduced through a combination
of clinker substitution, the use of AFR, energy
efficiency and CCS (Figure5). When taken
in isolation, thermal efficiency contributes
to a reduction of 0.03tCO2/tcement to
0.05tCO2/tcement between 2010 and 2050.
However, several factors offset the contribution
of thermal energy efficiency to reduced direct
emissions including the application of CCS, which

increases energy consumption. But with increased

use of alternative fuels and clinker substitutes, and
with the application of CCS, CO2 intensity in the
2DS can reach 55% of the intensity in the 6DS; from
0.62tCO2/tcement in 2050 to 0.35tCO2/tcement
in Low-Demand Case. Despite the important
improvement in CO2 intensity, emissions are
expected to be two times higher in 2050 than in
2010 due to the 260% production growth.

Vision for deployment to 2050

15

Figure5: Direct CO2 emissions and intensity reduction by each technology

in the Low-Demand Case
CO2 emissions reduction

0.8
6DS:
488 MtCO2

500

MtCO2

400
2DS:
275 MtCO2

300
200
100
0
2010
2DS

2020

2030

2040

2050

Alternative fuels and fuel switching

CO2 intensity (tCO2 /t cement)

600

CO2 intensity reduction

6DS:
0.62 tCO2 /
t cement

0.6

0.4

2DS:
0.35 tCO2 /
t cement

0.2

0.0
2010

2020

Energy efficiency

2030

2040

2050

Clinker substitutes

CCS

Notes: Includes only direct CO2 emissions from cement manufacturing; indirect emissions from the use of electricity are not taken into account.

KEY POINT: Total savings between the 6DS and 2DS amount to 212 MtCO2.

16

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Carbon emissions reduction levers

Several independent studies have recently been
carried out which include implications for lowcarbon growth of the Indian cement industry. The
Interim Report of the Expert Group on Low Carbon
Strategies for Inclusive Growth (GoI, 2011); the
Challenge of the New Balance (Centre for Science and
Environment, 2010), and the Low-Carbon Roadmap
for Indian Cement Industry (CII, 2010) evaluate
options for the Indian cement industry to pursue a
low-carbon path, and confirm the findings of several
other studies (e.g. McKinsey, 2010; ECRA, 2009)
that broadly highlight five major emission reduction
levers (for both direct and indirect emissions):
zzA lternative fuels and raw materials: promoting

use of industrial wastes, sorted municipal waste

and biomass to offset carbon-intensive fossil
fuels and natural raw materials. AFRs include
wastes that would otherwise be burnt in
incinerators, land-filled or improperly destroyed.
zzT hermal and electrical energy efficiency:

deploying existing state-of-the-art technologies

in new cement plants, and retrofitting with
energy efficient equipment in existing plants
where economically viable.
zzClinker substitution: increased use of blending

materials (i.e. raw materials other than

limestone) and increased production of blended
cement, both offering a reduction of carbonintensive clinker (an intermediate in cement
manufacture) in cement.
zzWaste heat recovery: adopting WHR

technologies to convert thermal energy,

otherwise lost in cement manufacture,
to electricity, partially offsetting the
electrical energy requirement in the cement
manufacturing process.
zzNewer technologies: focusing on emerging

technologies such as carbon capture, energy

crop plantation and carbon capture through the
growth of algae.
It is often the case that each individual lever has an
influence on the potential of another lever to reduce
emissions. For example, the use of alternative fuels
will generally increase specific heat consumption
(e.g. because of higher excess air consumption and
higher moisture levels). Therefore simply adding
up the reduction potentials of each technology in
order to calculate total potentials is not feasible. The
linkages between each lever, and the combination

that would lead to highest emissions reduction for

each specific plant, must be clearly understood
during Phase II technology assessments (see Box 2
page 7).

Technology: co-processing
of alternative fuels and raw
materials (AFRs)
Fossil fuels and raw materials used by Indian cement
plants can be replaced to a large extent with AFR.
The carbon intensity of the fuel will depend on
the extent of usage of AFR in the total fuel used
by the cement plant. Use of AFR in cement kilns
creates a win-win situation for the cement industry
and also for other stakeholders (waste generators,
local administration and the society). As well as
contributing to reduced emissions, effective solid
waste management practices from Indias growing
urban population and from other industries has
become imperative for the sustainable growth of
the country, as identified in the Prime Ministers
National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat. It is widely
accepted that cement kilns are particularly wellsuited to manage different kinds of wastes by using
them as AFR, considering the high temperature
and long residence time available in the cement
kiln. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) shows that
co-processing of waste as AFR in the cement kiln has
a much lower environmental impact than disposal
through incineration or landfill.
The global average alternative fuel use in the
cement industry is currently 4.3% of total thermal
energy consumption. In some countries, the
average use is as high as 30%, whereas in India the
average is 0.6%. With extensive national and global
expertise available, the Indian cement industry is
technically ready to adopt higher rates of AFR use.
The Interim Report of the Expert Group on Low Carbon
Strategies for Inclusive Growth (GoI, 2011) proposes
fuel substitution and highlights corresponding
emission intensity reduction that can be achieved
by 2020. Under the reports Determined Effort
Regime, a fuel substitution rate of 5% is expected in
the cement industry by 2020. Under the Aggressive
Effort Regime, fuel substitution with the adoption of
newer technologies could increase to 10%, and the
adoption of BAT by smaller units could lead to an
annual decrease in emission intensities of 1.8%.

Carbon emissions reduction levers

17

Typical wastes streams that can be used as AFR in

the Indian cement industry include:
zzindustrial wastes;
zzpre-processed industrial wastes;
zzsorted municipal solid waste (MSW);
zzrefuse-derived fuel (RDF) from MSW;
zzdiscarded tyres and tyre chips;
zze xpired consumer goods e.g. medicines and fast-

moving consumer goods (FMCG);

zzwaste oils and solvents;
zznon-recyclable plastics, textiles and paper

residues;
zzbiomass (such as rice husk, coconut shells and

groundnut shells);
zze ffluent treatment sludges from water and

wastewater treatments plants; and

zzlime sludges from paper and allied industries.

Although AFR as a lever for CO2 reduction offers

a large potential to the Indian cement industry to
reduce its carbon footprint, its use is a complex
process and must be managed successfully. To
ensure availability and consistency of alternative
fuel quantity and quality, waste legislation in the
country should enable effective waste collection,
treatment and processing. The pricing of waste
must ensure waste minimisation at source (to
reduce disposal costs for waste generators) as well
as zero or negative cost to cement manufacturers
(encouraging them to install the expensive
handling, storage and firing facilities at their
premises) for increased thermal substitution
rate (TSR).13
Several important, yet straight-forward procedures
must be in place to ensure correct use of AFR.
Appropriate planning and adequate preparations
must be carried out, and the potential and
properties of AFR use must be understood, to
ensure no decrease in productivity, or increase in
emissions of basic and hazardous pollutants. Only
carefully selected waste with recoverable calorific or
material value are suitable for use as alternative fuels
or raw materials. These AFRs can be used in facilities
that employ the highest environmental practices
and best available techniques, and in which
installed plant equipment can handle the alternative
fuels well and burn them fully. Adequate quality
control systems must be strictly adhered to for any

materials used (whether conventional or alternative)

to support proper monitoring and management
of the effects on kiln operation, emissions, and the
quality of the clinker, cement and the final product.
Such quality control is imperative as many of the
elements in conventional raw materials and fuels
(such as metals, halogens and organic compounds)
are also found in wastes used as AFR. The legislation
for AFR should be developed to focus on emission
limits rather than the input characteristics of waste,
which could be managed by the cement plant
by dilution to ensure stable process conditions,
product quality and adherence to emissions
regulations. Emission monitoring frequency for AFR
use in cement kilns must be regulated. Regulations
are already in place in many countries, including
the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(US-EPA) Boiler and Industrial Furnace (BIF)
regulation (US-EPA, 2001) and the European Union
(EU) Directive 2000/76/EC (EU, 2000). There is an
urgent need to implement appropriate policies and
practices in favour of increased alternative fuel use
in India.
The use of AFR in the 2DS is expected to increase
from 3.1PJ today, to between 347PJ and 613PJ in
2050; an average annual increase of 12% (LowDemand Case) and 14% (High-Demand Case) over
the 2010 to 2050 period. The use of AFR would
account for about 25% of the total cement thermal
energy consumption by 2050 (Figure6). While it is
possible to achieve such an increase in the use of
AFR, significant competition for limited biomass and
resources, and for industrial and post-consumers
waste from other sectors, may lead to increased
costs and possibly make industrial application less
attractive.
Given the wide range of waste that can be used as
AFR, and their different moisture and heat content,
and given the different fuels that can be displaced
by the use of alternatives, the impact of AFR on total
electrical and thermal energy consumption can be
hard to quantify. However, their use may have an
important impact in reducing the carbon footprint
of the cement industry. It is estimated that AFR can
contribute to a reduction of between 21MtCO2
(Low-Demand Case) and 37MtCO2 (High-Demand
Case) in the 2DS compared to the 6DS by 2050.

13. T

hermal substitution rate is the percentage of energy from

conventional fossil fuels which can be replaced by a lower carbon
energy source.

18

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Figure6: Share of thermal energy use in the cement industry by energy source
in the 2DS
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

2010

Low-Demand Case
Coal

Oil

2020

2030

2040

2050

High-Demand Case
Natural gas

Alternative fuels

KEY POINT: B
 y 2050, use of AFR is projected to account for 25% of total thermal energy
consumption in the cement sector.

Challenges to implementation
Cement kilns can, theoretically, operate at 100%
TSR, which would in turn offset the need for some
primary fossil fuels and natural raw materials,
for example limestone. However, several other
enabling factors, such as an appropriate policy
framework, systems to collect and segregate waste,
pre-processing and blending facilities, and the
availability of alternative fuels without technical
limitations need to be in place. Cement kilns
can also exhibit significantly varying behaviour
depending on the kiln capability and the type of
AFR co-processed. The cement industry needs to
disseminate adequate technical competence to
co-process different kinds of AFR at workable levels.
Increased TSR in the Indian cement industry would
be possible if:
zzwaste legislation in India specifically

supports co-processing considered as more

environmentally sustainable than other methods
of disposal and also being a recovery operation
as the preferred choice of waste disposal;

zzavailability and consistency of alternative

fuel quantity and quality is rapidly increased

by an effective collaboration between waste
generators and the cement industry, and
efficient collection, segregation, transportation
and processing of waste in a manner acceptable
to the cement industry for both quality and cost;
zzalternative fuels are priced properly to

encourage cement manufacturers to install the

(expensive) handling, storage and firing facilities
at their plants; and
zzsocial acceptance of using wastes (such as

municipal or hazardous waste) as AFR in cement

kilns is improved through appropriate awareness
and governing mechanisms by the government
and by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Research and development

needs and goals
Successful switching to AFR from conventional
fuels presents some challenges that must be
addressed. To use AFR in kilns safely and cleanly,
suitable materials must be identified and classified,

Carbon emissions reduction levers

19

Table3: Partner roles (AFR)

Item/
Partner

Cement
industry

Best
practices

Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry
Government
suppliers
academia institutions associations

Technology
diffusion

Institutional
structure

Performance
data

Technology
research

Table4: Potential impacts (AFR)

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Medium

High

Energy
savings

Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

and research needs to identify the right feed

point for the specific AFR material, based on the
appropriate conditions required for complete
combustion. It will also be necessary to simulate
the likely emissions of any specific material in any
given combustion condition. Information based on
R&D already undertaken to identify the operational
health and safety (OH&S) risks of AFR and how to
avert them must then be communicated broadly
to all stakeholders.

Technology: thermal and

electrical energy efficiency
The Indian cement industry has been growing
at a rapid pace during the late 20 th and early
21stcenturies; about 50% of Indian cement industrys
capacity today is less than ten years old. While
building these new cement plants, manufacturers
have installed the latest, energy efficient technologies
by design. As a result, recent cement plants achieve
high levels of energy efficiency performance. With
electricity tariffs for industry in India being among
the highest in the world, implementing such energy
efficiency measures at the design stage provides
significant advantage to the cement manufacturers
by lowering energy and production costs. Increasing
energy costs also prompted owners of older
manufacturing facilities to adopt gradually the latest
energy efficient technologies and improve their
energy performance.
A gradual, yet significant, improvement is evident
in the Indian cement industrys average energy
efficiency performance. The Indian cement industry
has phased out several old technologies in the
1990s and 2000s. Out of about 183large cement

20

Low

Carbon
savings

Parameter/
Impact

manufacturing facilities in the country, only three

facilities still operate with wet kilns (includes wet
and semi-dry) and six facilities have older model
coolers (such as rotary and planetary clinker coolers).
The thermal efficiency of an installation is largely
defined by its original engineering design. After
installation, however, adequate machinery
maintenance and operation are essential to ensure
the maximum potential efficiencies are achieved
during operation. This operational efficiency
varies by technology, and is hard to measure, but
is an important aspect of energy and emissions
management. Current state-of-the-art technology
combines the dry manufacturing process with
preheater and precalciner technology and the latest
generation clinker cooler.
As cement plants in India are already among the
most efficient in the world, efficiency is expected
to remain relatively constant in the 6DS; thermal
efficiency will improve from 725kcal/kgclinker
(3.04GJ/tclinker) in 2010 to between 720kcal and
704kcal/kgclinker (3.01GJ and 2.95GJ/tclinker) in
the Low- and High-Demand Cases in 2050. Electricity
efficiency will improve from 80kWh/tcement in
2010 to between 78kWh and 72kWh/tcement in
2050. The higher improvements in the High-Demand
Case are explained by the higher share of new plants
compared to the Low-Demand Case.
The picture that emerges from the 2DS is quite
different (Figure7); specific energy consumption
would reach about 680kcal/kgclinker
(2.85GJ/tclinker) and about 70kWh/tcement in
2050. If India were to follow the path of the 2DS for
specific energy intensity, and if all other factors are
kept constant, about 100PJ of energy and between
2000gigawatt hour (GWh) and 6000GWh of

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

electricity would be saved compared to the 6DS.

Given the expected production growth, and
assuming a constant average emission factor for the
cement industry, this improvement between the
6DS and 2DS would result in direct CO2 emissions
savings of about 25MtCO2 in 2050.

Challenges to implementation
Theoretical minimum thermal energy
consumption for chemical reactions in the cement
manufacturing process is about 390kcal/kgclinker

to 420kcal/kgclinker (1.63GJ/tclinker to
1.76GJ/tclinker). This minimum requirement is
established based on the raw material composition
needed to achieve desired phases in clinker
formation. The actual thermal energy consumption
is higher than the theoretical minimum, considering
certain processes and equipment design. Some
heat loss in the system is unavoidable (either not
technically feasible or not economically viable
to recover fully) such as heat loss through kiln
or calciner surfaces, and economic thickness of
refractory/insulation.

Figure7: Projected specific electrical and thermal energy consumption in the 2DS
Average thermal specific energy consumption

Average specific electricity consumption

82

740

80
78
kWh/t cement

kCal/kg clinker

720
700
680

76
74
72
70
68

660

66
640
2010

64
2020

2030

2040

2050

Low-Demand Case

2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

High-Demand Case

KEY POINT: E
 ven though Indian cement plants are among the most efficient in the world,
noticeable improvements in energy efficiency are still possible.

Specific thermal and electrical energy consumption

depends on factors such as efficiency of equipment
used in the market, mode of material transfer across
the manufacturing process, extent of process
automation, and quality of raw material and fuels.
Some of the barriers that inhibit the industry from
reaching even lower levels of energy consumption
are:
zzcost: a significant decrease in specific energy

consumption of older cement manufacturing

facilities will only be achieved through major
retrofits, which often have high investment costs
that are financially unviable;
zzenvironmental requirements: environmental

policies to mitigate important negative

environmental impacts are becoming more
stringent in India, resulting in increased specific

energy consumption for example, through

installation of bag filters instead of electrostatic
precipitators, mechanised loading/unloading
systems for suppressing fugitive dust emissions
and installation of new emission controls for NOx;
zzdemand for OPC: production of OPC requires

significantly more specific energy than other

types of cement; and
zzincreased use of alternative fuels: in cement

manufacture, this generally increases specific

energy consumption (e.g. because of a higher
air requirement and higher moisture levels).
However, the overall lower CO2 emissions
through increased use of alternative fuels
outweigh the disadvantage of increased specific
energy consumption.

Carbon emissions reduction levers

21

Research and development

needs and goals
Adoption of fuel cells to meet the power
requirement of cement manufacture, along with
large-scale dissemination of certain futuristic
comminution technologies, seems to offer
significant energy reduction opportunities.
Development of newer types of low-carbon cement
(Box3) could also be a major emissions reduction

opportunity. However, these are still only viable

at laboratory scale and a major thrust in R&D is
required to advance to pilot and demonstration
scales, and then to wide spread implementation.
Concerted efforts of key stakeholders are essential
to stimulate the emergence of such transformational
technologies in the global and Indian cement
industries in the near future.

Box3: Potential low-carbon cements

As highlighted in Cement Technology Roadmap
2009 (IEA/WBCSD, 2009), a number of lowcarbon or carbon-negative cements are
currently being developed by some companies
that expect to build pilot plants in the near
future. The physical properties of these cements
appear to be similar to those of OPC, and hold
equally strong potential for the global and
Indian cement industries. These new processes
are still at the development stage, but are
advancing steadily.
zzT he Aether clinker project aims to develop

a new class of lower-carbon clinkers to be

used in cement production. The clinker can
be made in existing cement plants (after
certain process adaptations have been
made) with the same raw materials but,
crucially, needs less energy. Aether cements
are expected to offer similar performances
to conventional OPC in various concrete
applications, but trials are still underway.
During the first industrial trial in February
2011, 5000tonnes of Aether clinker was
produced, confirming the feasibility of
industrial-scale production and the expected
25% to 30% fewer CO2 emissions per tonne
of cement than OPC.
zzCaleras key process is the technology

associated with carbon capture and

conversion to stable solid minerals. This
involves bringing gas from the power
plant in contact with alkaline water to form
soluble carbonates, which then react with
hard water to form solid mineral carbonates
and bicarbonates. These solid mineral
carbonates and bicarbonates now contain
CO2 that would have been emitted into the

22

air. After removal from the water and with

further processing, the solids have value
in a number of construction applications.
However, alone, it does not produce cement
or concretes with properties that meet the
requirements of cement standards, and
is therefore not currently envisaged as a
process that would produce a cement-like
product for widespread construction use.
zzCalix cement is produced in a reactor

by rapid calcination of dolomitic rock in

superheated steam. The particles of rock are
dropped into a vertical tube of superheated
steam, which causes the particles to explode
into grains, increasing the overall surface
area. Those grains then react with the steam,
oxidising the surfaces, and the residue can
be ground into a powder and mixed with
sand to form a powder. The CO2 emissions
from this process can be captured using a
separate CO2 scrubbing system.
zzCelitement is made through a novel

production process, the main stage of which

requires temperatures of about 200C,
compared to 1450C for conventional
cement manufacture. Its developers claim
that the process emits 50% less CO2 than
OPC manufacturing. The new cement is
characterised by a low consumption of
resources: approximately one-third of the
amount of limestone is required and it can
be done completely without a gypsum
additive. Celitement GmbH has engineered
a pilot plant now in operation to supply
sufficient quantities for testing of basic
properties and recipes.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Box3: Potential low-carbon cements (continued)

zzNovacem is based on magnesium

silicates rather than limestone (calcium

carbonate) as is used in OPC. Global
reserves of magnesium silicates are
estimated to be large, but these are not
uniformly distributed. Processing would
be required before use, for example
quarrying and grinding as required for
limestone in OPC manufacture. Using a
low-carbon, low-temperature process, the
technology converts magnesium silicates
into magnesium oxide and magnesium
carbonate. Production of magnesium
carbonate involves CO2 absorption which,
combined with the non-carbonate raw
material and the ability to utilise low-

carbon fuels, offers the prospect of carbonnegative cement. Makers of Novacem assert
that this new cement could be carbonnegative as it has the capacity to absorb
30kgCO2/tcement to 100kgCO2/tcement
whereas OPC manufacturing leads to
emissions of around 800kgCO2/tcement.
Although it had plans to develop pilot and
demonstration plants, Novacem is currently
seeking additional funding and support to
develop and commercialise the product.
In the long term, low-carbon cements may offer
opportunities to reduce the CO2 intensity of
cement production. Their progress should be
followed carefully and potentially supported by
governments and industry.

Table5: Partner roles

(energy efficiency)
Item/
Partner
Best
practices

Cement
industry

Table6: Potential impacts

(energy efficiency)

Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry
Government
suppliers
academia institutions associations

Technology
research

Technology
diffusion

Institutional
structure

Performance
data

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Low

Medium

High

Energy
savings
Carbon
savings

Parameter/
Impact

Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

Technology:
clinker substitution
Clinker is the main component in most types of
cement. When ground and mixed with 4% to 5%
gypsum, it reacts with water and hardens. Other
mineral components also have these hydraulic
properties when ground and mixed with clinker and
gypsum, notably ground blast furnace slag (GBFS,
a by-product from the iron and steel industry),
fly ash (a residue from coal-fired power stations)
and natural volcanic materials. These can be used

to partially substitute clinker in cement, thereby

reducing the volumes of clinker used, and also the
process-, fuel- and power-related CO2 emissions
associated with clinker production. The clinker
content in cement (i.e. the clinker-to-cement ratio)
can vary widely, although the extremes are used
only for special applications. OPC can contain up to
95% clinker (the balance being gypsum).
The Indian cement industry has been gradually
increasing the share of blended cement in its overall
cement mix. The shares of various types of cement
and typical average clinker-to-cement ratio for

Carbon emissions reduction levers

23

about 200million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of

cement manufactured in India in the financial year
2010 is presented in Table7.
The potential to reduce the clinker-to-cement ratio
depends greatly on the country context and the
availability of alternative materials. Under a 2DS, in
which the power sector is virtually decarbonised,

availability of fly ash would be considerably reduced

as a result of fewer coal-based thermal power plants
being in operation. However, as the Indian industrial
sector is expected to grow at a fast pace, availability
of GBFS and other blending material from nonferrous industries may increase considerably.

Table7: Share of cement type and typical clinker-to-cement ratio in India

Type of cement

Million tonnes per annum

Clinker-to-cement ratio

OPC

48

0.95

PPC

130

0.69

PSC

16

0.57

Others

n.a.

200

0.744

Total/weighted average
Note: n.a. = not available.

Table8: Characteristics of clinker substitutes in India

Clinker
substitute

Source

Characteristics of the blended product

compared to OPC
Positive

2010

Higher long-term
strength, increased
durability, lower water
consumption, better
workability.

Relatively lower early

strength, logistic
barriers (distance
between power plant
and cement plant).

Improved chemical
resistance, higher
long-term strength.

Relatively lower early

strength, logistic
10MTPA of GBFS utilised
barriers (distance
out of 22MTPA of blast
between iron and
furnace slag generated.
steel plant and cement
plant).

Other
blending
materials

Non-ferrous
industries,
mineral
processing
industries

Increased durability.

Relatively lower early

strength, presence
of minor constituents
(e.g. magnesium
oxide [MgO]), logistic
barriers (distance
between other
industries and
cement plant).

Lead zinc slag (1.0MTPA),

copper slag (0.8MTPA),
equilibrium catalyst
(0.015MTPA), Jarosite
(0.3MTPA), Kimberlite
(0.6MTPA), marble slurry
(5.0MTPA).

Limestone

Limestone
deposits

Increased workability,
higher long-term
strength.

None.

Relatively large deposits,

but only 40years of
high-grade limestone
estimated to be available.

Fly ash

Ground blast
furnace slag
(GBFS)

24

Limiting

Estimated annual level

of availability and
use in India

Coal-fired
power plants

Iron and steel

industry

100MTPA of fly ash

utilised out of 190MTPA
generated.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Further analysis on the availability of each material

under different scenarios needs to be undertaken
to ensure the target set in the roadmap can be
achieved. Furthermore, care must be taken to
ensure that the resulting new blending will be
strong enough for the applications of cement.
Several different clinker substitutes can potentially
be used in cement, and their relative merits and
availability are presented in Table8.
The current clinker-to-cement ratio in India is
estimated at 0.74, compared to a global average
of 0.80. By 2050, this ratio in India is expected

to decrease to 0.73 in the 6DS and 0.58 in the

2DS (Figure8), the latter of which would have a
strong impact on the energy consumption and
CO2 emissions. If the clinker-to-cement ratio was
the only lever implemented, and all other things
remained constant, the savings by 2050 in the 2DS
(from the 6DS) would be between 370PJ and 580PJ
of energy and between 95MtCO2 and 150MtCO2
(Low- and High-Demand Case). It is important to
note, however, that reductions associated with a
lower clinker-to-cement ratio will be impacted by
the improvement in thermal energy consumption.
In this instance, the combined effect of all levers will
be lower than the sum of the individual impacts.

Figure8: Projected change in clinker-to-cement ratio in the 2DS

0.80

Clinker-to-cement ratio

0.75
0.70
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

2045

2050

Note: Clinker-to-cement ratio is assumed to be the same in the Low- and High-Demand Case.

KEY POINT: The clinker-to-cement ratio will decrease substantially in the next 40years to reach 0.58.

Challenges to implementation
Some of the major limiting factors in adopting
higher clinker substitution rates are the following:
zzT he Indian standard that limits fly ash addition

in PPC (IS 1489) (maximum of 35% by weight

for siliceous fly ash) as compared to European
standards (permits up to 55%).
zzA lack of economically viable and proven

technologies for utilising huge deposits of pond/

dump ash.
zzA bsence of standards for composite cement and

Portland Limestone Cement (PLC); inadequate

infrastructure to granulate all blast furnace slag
generated.

zzL ack of strong co-operation between the cement

and steel industries, specifically on joint efforts

to activate non-granulated blast furnace slag
and to produce granulated slag economically.
Quantity and quality variation of dolomite and
other blending materials.
zzL ack of systematic and thorough studies/

investigations to prove extent of clinker

substitution.
zzLong distance between source of blending

materials and cement plants and logistics (e.g.

rail connectivity) are major barriers to increased
and effective use of all blending materials and
are affecting economic viability of the usage.

Carbon emissions reduction levers

25

Research and development needs

and goals
Variation in the quality is one of the major problems
hindering widespread use of fly ash. Efficient coal
blending systems and controlled coal combustion
techniques will ensure the generation of good quality
fly ash in Indian thermal power plants. Studies are
required, however, to find ways to enhance lime
reactivity of dump ash/pond ash and fly ash from
electrostatic precipitators so that non-conforming fly
ash could be made reactive and could conform to the
Indian standard for fly ash utilisation.

Economically viable technologies for activation of

non-granulated blast furnace slag are not available
at present. It may not be possible to increase
availability of such slag in the very near term, but
activation processes (such as fine-grinding using
nanotechnology and re-sintering and quenching)
could be possible through adequate research and
deployment in industry.
The lack of reliable basic data on cement blend
characteristics (of blending materials from nonferrous and mineral processing industries) and their
performance in the Indian context, highlights the
need for further research to prove their viability and
substitution in cement.

Table9: P
 artner roles
(clinker substitutes)
Item/
Partner

Table10: Potential impacts

(clinker substitutes)

Cement Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry Standardisation
Government
industry suppliers
academia institutions associations organisations

Best
practices

Technology
research

Technology
diffusion

Institutional
structure

Performance
data

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Low

Medium

High

Energy
savings
Carbon
savings
Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

Technology:
waste heat recovery
Adoption of WHR systems in Indian cement
manufacturing facilities has been relatively slow
compared to in other countries. Out of about
183large cement kilns in the country, only 12 have
WHR systems installed. The WHR potential of the
Indian cement industry is estimated at close to
550MW while the installed capacity to date is only
110MW. Clearly, a huge opportunity exists for
adopting WHR.
While Indian cement manufacturers accept the
technology of WHR systems, the main reasons for low
adoption have been layout constraints, high capital
costs for smaller capacity plants, lack of uniform
policy across all states regarding the renewable
status for WHR systems, and lack of attractive
financial incentives to enable implementation.

26

Parameter/
Impact

The high initial investment deters manufacturers

from adopting WHR systems. Installing WHR systems
currently costs manufacturers about USD2.4million
(INR12crore) per MW, depending on the type of
technology adopted and the WHR potential at each
plant. By contrast, about 60% of the electrical energy
requirements for cement manufacture in India are
met through CPP (installed to reduce cost of energy
and to ensure steady power availability). Installing
CPPs cost cement manufacturers about USD1million
(INR5crore) per MW.
Based on the chosen process and kiln technology,
7kWh/t to 10kWh/tclinker can be produced from
cooler exhaust air and 8kWh/t to 10kWh/tclinker
from preheater gases, if the moisture content in the
raw material is low and so requires only little hot
gas/air for drying. This means that, in total, up to
15kWh/t to 20kWh/tclinker or up to 12% to 15%
of the power consumption of a cement plant can
be generated by using currently available WHR

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

technologies without significant changes in kiln

operation. The plants can either reduce their power
requirements or export the power to the grid.

adoption of WHR systems. Less weighty but still

important factors include the type of cooler used,
space and layout considerations at the plant, dust
concentration levels, availability of water and scale
of operation of manufacturing facilities.

Overall, between 5000GWh (Low-Demand Case)

and 10000GWh (High-Demand Case) of electricity
could be saved by 2050 by installing WHR in new
and refurbished cement plants.

Research and development

needs and goals

Challenges to implementation

Some existing cement plant installations in India

have adopted conventional or organic rankine cycle
systems. Power generation from WHR systems
depends largely on the type of system adopted.
Research into maximising power generation from
already-proven WHR systems (through recovery of
radiation losses in the kiln system) will help make
the economics of implementation attractive.

The feasibility of implementing WHR systems in

cement manufacturing facilities is limited largely by
the moisture content in the raw material. In facilities
where the raw material moisture levels exceed
8%, WHR systems are not viable as the hot gases
recovered are required for drying.
In facilities where raw material drying is feasible,
economic viability is the parameter that limits
implementation. Poor payback on investments, lack
of financial incentives and the relatively low cost of
captive power (wherever CPPs are already installed
for power requirements) hinder widespread

Newer WHR technologies, such as the Kalina cycle,

are yet to be adopted in India. R&D is essential
to promote increased use of this technology,
which offers higher power generation possibility
compared to other cycles. Lower investment costs
could also stimulate adoption.

Table11: Partner roles (WHR)

Item/
Partner

Cement
industry

Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry
Government
suppliers
academia institutions associations

Technology
diffusion

Institutional
structure

Performance
data

Best practices
Technology
research

Table12: Potential impacts (WHR)

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Parameter/
Impact

Low

Medium

High

Energy
savings
Carbon
savings
Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

Technology:
newer technologies
Several newer technologies that could significantly
improve the CO2 emissions reduction profile of
the Indian cement industry are at various stages
of development: use of mineralisers, fluidisedbed advanced cement kiln system (FAKS), carbon
capture and carbon use for algal growth for
biofuels production, geopolymer cement and use of
nanotechnology in cement production.

Use of mineralisers to improve burnability

of the raw mix
Mineralisers added to raw materials entering the
kiln can reduce the clinkerisation temperature
by about 50C (or more) without compromising
clinker quality, thereby reducing fuel consumption
and emissions while also improving the
clinker morphology. The selection and use of
the mineralisers is generally determined by
considerations such as the reaction effects desired,
compatibility with a given kilns raw materials,

Carbon emissions reduction levers

27

the specific process adopted, physical form of

the mineralisers and economic viability of using
mineralisers.
Fluidised-bed advanced cement kiln system
(FAKS)
The fluidised bed, which is widely used in some
other industries, shows promise to improve thermal
efficiency in cement production, although its
suitability at scale is yet to be proven. With no other
breakthrough technologies envisaged to deliver
significantly higher thermal or electric efficiency,
it is vital to ensure that new plants are fitted with
the most efficient technologies, and are then
operated and maintained well. Granulation control
technology is the most important component in the
FAKS system. It offers the first self-granulation
process, whereby agglomeration of a portion of
the raw material generates granule cores to which
the remaining raw material adheres and grows,
thereby controlling granulation.
Algal growth promotion and use of biofuels
Algae can be used either directly as a fuel or by
converting it to biofuels to provide energy for
cement production. Algal growth can be promoted
by raising CO2 levels in the growing environment;
the necessary photosynthesis can be stimulated in
either open ponds or closed bioreactor systems in
the presence of light. As open pond systems have
been deemed commercially unviable, researchers
have designed different bioreactors with varying
efficiencies. The CO2 needed could be provided
either directly from the kiln flue gases or in a more
pure form via a CO2 capture plant. Using this biofuel
to displace fossil fuels would deliver an associated
emissions benefit elsewhere in the value chain.
Geopolymer cement
Geopolymer cements are two component binders
consisting of a reactive solid component and
an alkaline activator. During the reaction in
alkaline media, a three-dimensional inorganic
aluminosilicate polymer network forms, which is
responsible for the relatively high strength of the
hardened product. Geopolymer cements are already
in use but not widely.
Use of nanotechnology in cement production
Nano-cements are cements containing nano-sized
particles of cement evenly distributed among larger
particles of mineral admixtures. The nano-particles
are dispersed so finely that even a lower content of
cement should be able to provide the desired binding
of aggregates and admixture particles, generating

28

the required strength and performance in the final

concrete. Nano-cement production allows for the
use of larger quantities of mineral additives, and
therefore have the potential to provide significant
savings of cement and lower CO2 emissions.
Nano-particles can also support mechano-chemical
activation of raw materials and cements, which may
provide enhanced reactivity during clinkerisation
(for raw materials) and hydration (for cement).
The most studied and well-reported area is the use
of nano-particles, such as nano-silica, in cement
mortar and concrete.
Potential health hazards associated with the
handling and use of nano-particles need to be
studied, understood and mitigated.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
Among the newer technologies for CO2 emissions
reduction presented in this roadmap, only CCS
is considered to become commercially available
over the timeframe analysed. CO2 capture through
post- and oxy-combustion in the cement industry
is currently at the pilot stage. If pilot testing is
successful, and actions are quickly taken to overcome
the barriers to CCS, it could contribute between
86MtCO2 and 171MtCO2 of the emissions reduction
from the Indian cement industry by 2050. Carbonate
looping an adsorption process in which calcium
oxide is put into contact with the combustion gas
containing carbon dioxide to produce calcium
carbonate is at conceptual design stage.
Several barriers still need to be overcome before
CCS can be commercially applied in the cement
sector. Post-combustion technologies end-ofpipe mechanisms will not require fundamental
changes in the clinker-burning process, and could
be retrofitted to existing plants depending on space
restrictions. However, the energy requirements for
the regeneration of the capture solvents used in postcombustion capture may require additional boilers
on site or off-take of steam from a local power plant.
Oxy-combustion, which involves the use of an
oxygen-enriched combustion environment to
produce a pure CO2 flue gas, has been shown to
improve cement production efficiency without
markedly increasing the fuel consumption of a
cement plant.
Oxy-combustion technologies have their own
disadvantages, however. While they can avoid
the high energy costs associated with all postcombustion capture techniques, the cost of oxygen

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Figure9: Potential growth of CCS in the Indian cement industry in the 2DS
200

160

MtCO2

120

80

40

0
2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

Low-Demand Case

High-Demand Case

KEY POINT: CCS could be a key option to reduce CO2 emissions from the cement industry.

gas production is high. Moreover, significant

re-engineering of the plant may be needed to
accommodate altered thermodynamics and material
stress of operation in an oxygen-rich environment.
Concerted R&D into oxy-combustion is warranted to
better understand any impacts on product quality.

Challenges to implementation
At present, none of these newer technologies are
commercially established. While all have significant
emissions reduction potential, their commercial
viability and successful deployment is key to
increased adoption.

Research and development

needs and goals
Primary and fundamental research is needed in
areas such as nano-technology and geopolymer
cement. For fuel cells or use of mineralisers, future
development hinges more on achieving commercial
viability. In all cases, carrying out R&D within
India is essential to ensuring country-specific,
cost-effective and technically viable options for
emissions reduction.

Table13: P
 artner roles
(newer technologies)
Item/
Partner
Best
practices

Cement
industry

Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry
Government
suppliers
academia institutions associations

Technology
diffusion

Institutional
structure

Performance
data

Technology
research

Table14: Potential impacts

(newer technologies)

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Parameter/
Impact

Low

Medium

High

Energy
savings
Carbon
savings
Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

Carbon emissions reduction levers

29

Reduction potential from

captive power generation
Somewhat uniquely to India, CPPs have become
an integral part of the cement manufacturing
process. In fact, the electrical power requirement
for around 60% of the cement manufactured in
India is met through CPPs (predominantly coalfired) installed at cement manufacturing facilities.
Efficiency improvements and use of renewable
energy in CPPs are essential to support the Indian
cement industrys endeavour to move towards a
low-carbon economy.

technologies. Significant efficiency improvements

can be achieved through various means including
the choice of fluidised-bed boilers by design
for better efficiency (for example, circulating
fluidised-bed combustion [CFBC] system in lieu
of atmospheric fluidised-bed combustion [AFBC]
system), and efficiency improvements in existing
auxiliary equipment (such as feed water pumps,
fans, compressors, cooling towers and installation
of variable speed drives for all auxiliary equipment).

The opportunities for efficiency improvements in

the cement manufacturing process are discussed
at length in the roadmap as well as in the
accompanying technical papers. The roadmap
limits discussion of emissions reduction levers
to those specific to the cement manufacturing
process, and so reduction potential from captive
power generation is not considered as an emissions
reduction lever in this roadmap. However, there is
important emissions reduction potential associated
with energy efficient CPP and the use of alternative
fuels to generate power. Captive power generation
has the potential to improve energy security of the
country by reducing the electricity required for
cement manufacturing from public utilities.

Renewable energy

The estimated average auxiliary power consumption

in cement industry CPPs ranges from 10% to 13%.
Some of the best operating CPPs in the Indian
cement industry operate at 5% of auxiliary power
consumption. A similar range is also observed
in the CPP heat rate: the average heat rate of all
CPPs installed in the Indian cement industry is
3208kcal/kWh (source: Bureau of Energy Efficiency
for baseline period 2007-10) as compared to
2550kcal/kWh in best operating plants.
About 60% of the electricity used in cement plants
today is from CPPs, which have an average CO2
emission factor of 1.2kgCO2/kWh of electricity
produced. Improved energy efficiency, coupled
with power generation through low (or zero)
emission technologies, can substantially reduce
CO2 emissions from CPPs. Assuming that CPPs will
continue to account for around 60% of cement
electricity requirements in 2050, between 80MtCO2
and 150MtCO2 could be saved through efficiency
improvements and the use of renewable energy to
generate 50% of the electricity needs.
Energy efficiency
Energy efficient captive power generation can be
achieved in two ways: energy efficiency by design
when building new plants, and energy efficiency
by retrofitting existing CPPs with more efficient

30

Government of India targets are to achieve over

20% of the countrys total power generation from
renewable energy (RE) by 2022, with an installed
capacity of over 70GW (MNRE, 2011). To support
this aim, the government recently launched two
national missions: the 2010 Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission under the NAPCC seeks to
facilitate the generation of 20000MW of solar
power by 2022. The recently initiated National
Biomass Mission aims to tap bioenergy potential
of over 25000MW. Various RE-based power
generation options are available for cement
manufacturers to supplement their fossil fuel-based
electricity supply including wind power, biomassbased power generation, solar photovoltaic (PV),
solar thermal and small hydropower generation.
Fuel cell technology
After a few successful commercial installations at
various capacities, hydrogen fuel cell power may
become a clean power generation technology
in the future. Currently, fuel cell technology in
a small capacity is undergoing commercial trials
in different parts of the world. In these trials,
technology suppliers are willing to supply the
power with a power purchase agreement at a price
comparable to prevailing conventional power cost.
Typically, a 50MW plant requires ten acres (1acre =
4047square metres) of land and an initial provision
of approximately 50000litres of fresh water. The
water can be recycled, which means that only
evaporation and drip losses need to be replenished
(estimated at approximately 7% to 8%).

Challenges to implementation
Installation of CPP will continue to expand so
long as India remains unable to supply steady
and continuous grid power at a competitive cost
(compared to captive generation). All the options
discussed for energy efficiency improvements in
existing CPPs are proven and can be considered
for direct implementation. Low-carbon power

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

generation options, such as renewable energy

and/or fuel cells, would achieve greater penetration
if cost economics justify their use.

needs are required in efficiency improvements of

existing thermal-based CPPs as well as developing
RE systems that can be integrated into cement
manufacturing process/requirements.

Research and development

needs and goals
While much effort targets performance
improvements at large thermal power plants,
very little work is being done on energy efficiency
improvements in CPPs. Research and development

Table15: Partner roles (CPP)

Item/
Partner
Best practices

Cement
industry

Equipment
Universities/ Research
Industry
Government
suppliers
academia institutions associations

Technology
research

Technology
diffusion

Notes: = leadership role and direct involvement required;

Institutional
structure
Performance
data

Table16: Potential impacts (CPP)

Parameter/
Impact

Low

Medium

High

Energy
savings
Carbon
savings
Cement
production
Investment
needs

= funding source.

Reduction potential from captive power generation

31

What policy support is needed?

Successful achievement of the energy efficiency
improvements and emissions reduction goals
outlined in this roadmap will require a welldesigned and supportive policy framework. This
roadmap proposes policy recommendations to
stimulate the necessary technology development
and deployment.

MNRE also led the development of the Renewable

Purchase Obligation (RPO), which will support
the Government of Indias aim to derive 15% of
energy requirements from renewable energy by
2020. Under the RPO, distribution companies,
open-access consumers and captive consumers are
obliged to buy a specific percentage of their power
from RE sources.

Encourage and facilitate

increased alternative fuel use

To encourage and facilitate increased alternative

fuel use, this roadmap recommends:

Alternative fuel use can prevent fossil fuels being

unnecessarily burnt or potential fuel sources being
sent to landfill. Globally, industry has a good
understanding of the processes for using AFRs
and potential for increased implementation. India,
however, still lacks appropriate legislative and
regulatory frameworks to support roll-out and/or
expansion of this practice. If policy is supportive of
increased AFR use, estimates propose that average
thermal substitution rates in India could be 19% in
2030, and 25% in 2050, compared to 0.6% today.
Current barriers to wider alternative fuel use
include: variations in availability of alternative
fuels and biomass due to weak legislation around
waste collection, segregation and processing; lack
of acceptance of co-processing as a viable waste
disposal method for municipal and industrial
wastes; existing legislation related to inter-state
transportation of alternative fuels; poor public
understanding and acceptance; and unviable pricing
of alternative wastes available to the cement industry.
Good examples of overcoming such barriers do
exist, for example the European Waste Incineration
Directive (2006/7), which takes a step-by-step
approach to permitting alternative fuel use, and
the EU document The Reference Document on
Best Available Techniques in the Cement, Lime and
Magnesium Oxide Manufacturing Industries (EU, 2010).
Political commitment to enhancing renewable
energy use in India started in the 1970s, and is
now driven by the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE). In addition to supporting R&D,
the Ministry facilitates the implementation of
broad spectrum programmes including the use
of renewable energy in urban, industrial and
commercial applications and the development of
alternate fuels and applications. MNRE has set up
centres of excellence for solar and wind energy, as
well as a separate financing institution, the Indian
Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).

32

zzDeveloping legislation on waste management

at national, state and local levels, to promote

co-processing as the preferred choice of waste
disposal if landfill is the only other option,
and as an integral part of Indias future waste
management strategy at all levels.
zzWorking with NGOs to improve social acceptance

of using wastes as AFR in cement kilns through

appropriate awareness and governing
mechanisms so all stakeholders understand the
role of AFR use in emissions reduction and in
Indias waste management practices.
zzWaste generators and the cement industry

should ensure effective collaboration and

oversight of the collection, segregation,
transportation and processing of waste in a
manner acceptable to the cement industry for
both quality and cost.
zzE stablishing common guidelines for operators

on AFR use to guarantee adequate processes, for

example induction and retraining, documenting
and monitoring, for employees and contractors,
and to ensure adherence to these guidelines;
provide training for authorities and ensure an
adequate technical background of decision
makers responsible for permits, control and
supervision.
zzE stablishing legislation to support inter-state

transport of correctly managed hazardous waste,

thereby facilitating movement of such wastes
between states that have high waste volumes and
those with strong cement industry presence.
zzE stablishing an appropriate pricing scheme

of alternative fuels to encourage cement

manufacturers to install the (expensive) handling,
storage and firing facilities at their plants.
zzConducting detailed analysis of current and

future availability of varied alternative fuels in

partnership with local authorities (municipal solid
waste) and other industries (industrial waste).
zzEnsuring that no taxes are levied on

co-processing for environmentally safe disposal

of industrial or municipal waste.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Box4: Indias Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme

The Ministry of Powers Bureau of Energy
Efficiency (BEE) has been a leader in promoting
the efficient use of energy and its conservation.
This is further supplemented by the National
Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE)
which is one of the missions of the NAPCC,
released on 30 June 2008 to ensure an increase
in the living standards of the vast majority
of people while addressing greenhouse-gas
mitigation and reducing vulnerability to
adverse impacts of climate change. The flagship
program of the NMEEE, the Perform, Achieve
and Trade (PAT) mechanism, seeks to create,
in the words of the NAPCC, a market-based
mechanism to facilitate energy efficiency
improvements in large energy-intensive
industries through trading of certified energy
savings.
The key goal of the scheme is to mandate
specific energy efficiency for the most
energy-intensive industries, and further
incentivise them to achieve better energy
efficiency improvements that are superior to
their specified specific energy consumption
improvement targets. To facilitate this, the
scheme provides the option to industries
which achieve superior savings to receive
energy savings certificates for these excess
savings, and to trade the additional energy
savings certificates with other energy-intensive
industries (the Designated Consumers [DC]),

Promote the adoption of

best available technologies
for new and retrofit kilns
Widespread implementation of dry process kilns
with preheaters and precalciners has allowed the
Indian cement industry to significantly reduce its
energy and emissions intensity. Moreover, new
cement kilns in India are among the most efficient
in the world. In many cases, companies have
opted for best available technologies at the time of
construction, and older plants are refurbished to
high efficiency levels.

who can utilise these certificates to comply with

their own reduction targets. The Energy Savings
Certificates (ESCerts) so issued will be tradable
on special trading platforms to be created in the
two power exchanges (Indian Energy Exchange
and Power Exchange India).
BEE conducted several studies before starting
the procedure of target setting in different
industries. Each DC is mandated to reduce its
specific energy consumption by a certain value.
This value is based on the reported specific
energy consumption of each individual plant
within the sectoral bandwidth. The plants that
are already efficient have a lower mandated
reduction than those that are less efficient.
The cement plant is an energy-intensive unit,
where the energy cost accounts for about 40%
of the total manufacturing cost. The specific
thermal and electrical energy consumption for
state-of-the-art cement plants is comparable
with the best plants in the world. The most
efficient global technologies have been
adopted in the major Indian cement plants
which are already leaders in the field of energy
conservation. Energy savings of 0.816million
tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) (34PJ) per year
are expected to be achieved, which is around
12% of total national energy saving targets
assessed under PAT.
Source: BEE, Background on PAT, October 2012.

Nevertheless, further improvements in energy

efficiency are still possible, and these bring cost
savings to the plant as well as decreasing the risks
of disruptions in energy supplies. Indias NMEEE has
a set of market interventions, covering the major
economic sectors, to achieve energy efficiency
targets of reducing energy intensity by 20%. BEE has
created funds available to varied industry sectors
including cement, like the Partial Risk Guarantee
Fund for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE) or the Venture
Capital Fund for Energy Efficiency (VCFEE), to
overcome risks that impede the implementation of
energy efficiency technologies. Strong enforcement
of increasingly stringent environmental norms
across the industry will increase specific energy
consumption and necessitate the installation

What policy support is needed?

33

of energy efficient equipment to reduce the

specific energy requirements and maintain cost
competitiveness.
To promote the adoption of BATs for new and
retrofit kilns, this roadmap recommends:
zzEffective implementation of the PAT scheme and

its continuation in subsequent cycles.

zzEliminating energy price subsidies that can act

as a barrier to implementation of more energy

efficient technologies.
zzSharing of best practices and implementing

policies for the promotion of energy efficiency

and CO2 emissions reduction in the cement
industry.
zzDefining minimum ESCerts price in a similar way

to the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) trading

mechanism, which will encourage companies to
implement high capital expenditure (CAPEX) and
long payback projects.
zzStrengthening co-operation to gather reliable,

industry-level energy and emissions data, for

example linking to the CSIs GNR database;
supporting effective policy development;
tracking performance; and identifying national
performance gaps and best practice benchmarks.

Encourage and facilitate

increased clinker
substitution
In India, the estimated generation of fly ash
was about 190Mt in 2010/11; this is expected
to reach 450Mt by 2020/21, and 900Mt by
2031/32 (Department of Science and Technology,
Government of India). At present, only about
100Mt of fly ash is being used in cement and other
building materials. Current factors that impede the
full potential of clinker substitution include: existing
cement standards (or lack of) and building codes;
poor understanding of the process by the public
and customers; and lack of availability (both locally
and regionally) of substitute materials.
To encourage and facilitate increased clinker
substitution, this roadmap recommends:
zzConducting detailed analysis of current and

future availability of clinker substitutes.

zzRevising existing cement standards and building

codes to allow the use of a higher percentage of

fly ash in blended cement.

34

zzD eveloping new cement standards and building

codes to promote widespread use of blended

cement, for example developing a standard
specification for composite cement and PLC or
for using industrial waste from the non-ferrous
industries as clinker substitutes.
zzR aising consumer awareness and confidence

in blended cements and increasing their

acceptance in the market.
zz Promoting capacity-building and training

events with standardisation bodies and

accreditation institutes to exchange experiences
on substitution, concrete standards, long-term
concrete performance of new cements, and
environmental and economic impacts; ensuring
consumers are trained in using blended cement.
zzEnsuring the availability of clinker substitutes

for the cement industry to conserve limestone

reserves and minimise CO2 emissions from
cement manufacturing.

Facilitate the development

of CCS and biofuels
production and use by
the cement industry
From among the newer technology options, carbon
capture and storage is a technology not yet proven
at industrial scale in cement production, but which
could potentially deliver deep cuts in CO2 emissions
within the global cement industry; thus, urgent
action is needed to support its development.
Research and development, pilot projects and
industrial-scale demonstration on effective CO2
capture in the cement industry must be incentivised
and put into action in the short term to enable fullscale capture for decades to come. Demonstration
and deployment of CO2 capture technologies will
support the full CCS chain.
The marginal abatement cost of CCS at the
global level is estimated at USD40/tCO2 abated
to USD170/tCO2 abated (INR2200/tCO2 to
INR8500/t CO2) (IEA, 2009). At this cost, its
implementation would require significant
capital and could result in a doubling of cement
production costs which cannot be burdened
on the end consumer alone. In the absence of
a global framework, implementation of CCS
technology will be possible only if national and
regional political frameworks effectively limit
the risk of carbon leakage. As the additional

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

cost of CCS implementation will be lower for

new installations than for retrofitting existing
facilities, and as the majority of future demand is
likely to be in regions that currently have lower
carbon constraints, incentives must be in place
to encourage the early deployment of CCS in all
regions. To date, no cement plant has demonstrated
CCS at a commercial scale. Therefore deployment
of CCS in the cement industry now depends on
establishing techno-commercial viability of CCS and
understanding the resulting impact on production
cost. In India, the cement industry has made several
attempts to recover CO2 from the flue gas using
physical and chemical methods.
CO2 could also potentially be removed from
cement kiln flue gases through the industrial-scale
photosynthesis of algae in photobioreactors. This
would not lead to capture or storage of the CO2;
rather, the algae would be used to generate biofuel
that would replace fossil fuel, thus displacing
emissions associated with fuel use. Use of biofuels
is likely to lead to a reduction in overall carbon
intensity. The direct CO2 reduction potential
depends on the type, volume, technology and
conditions of the algae, and on the fuel displaced.
To facilitate the development of CCS and biofuel
production and use, this roadmap recommends:
zzPromoting, piloting and commercialising CO2 use

for algae growth at Indian cement plants.

zzI f CO2 reductions to reach the 2DS are not

possible through CO2 use for algal growth,

governments need to consider alternatives
including CO2 capture (with international
funding support).

zzD eveloping knowledge of potential geological

CO2 storage sites in India; mapping a CO2

storage atlas (sponsored by government).
zzI dentifying industrial sites that could cluster the

captured emissions from cement plants with

those of other industries. This would reduce
costs and help to commercialise CCS under a
policy framework that attracts international
funding support.
zzGovernment and industry significantly

expanding efforts to educate and inform key

stakeholders about CCS.
zzIf technically suitable and safe geological

structure to store CO2 are available, Government

of India to develop CO2 transport networks on
a regional, national and international level to
optimise infrastructure development and to lower
cost of CCS.

Encourage policies for

predictable, objective and
stable CO2 constraints and
energy frameworks on an
international level
Until there is clarity internationally on the future
carbon constraints that will be imposed upon
countries and industrial sectors, it is difficult for
industry around the world to plan effectively
for technology R&D. Carbon pricing policies
(such as emissions trading, either domestically
or internationally) can help bridge the cost gap
and drive deployment of mature lower emission
technologies. However, carbon markets must be
complemented by mechanisms that effectively
engage all industries in developing and adopting
cleaner technologies for emissions reduction.
International climate change negotiations are
beginning to shape the future agreement that will
apply from 2020. This agreement foresees new
market mechanisms that would stimulate emissions
reduction across broad segments of economies,
rather than by funding individual projects.
Developed countries have committed to mobilise
significant financial flows for low-carbon investment
in developing countries, including helping
fund nationally appropriate mitigation actions
(NAMAs) put forward by developing countries.
This new international agreement may have scope
for ambitious mitigation efforts in the Indian
cement industry, to be supported by new market
mechanisms or directly by mobilised financial flows.
To encourage policies for CO2 constraints and
energy frameworks, this roadmap recommends:
zzGovernment-industry collaboration to inform

the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC) process, specifically
to explore key elements for successful
frameworks: e.g.sector data requirements;
monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV)
practices; target setting; and potential market
(crediting or trading) mechanisms based on a
common calculation method for CO2 emissions
as stipulated by an international standard.
zzGovernment, in collaboration with industry,

defining effective national policy measures to

help reduce cement industry CO2 emissions
and ensuring fair distribution of responsibilities
between government and industry. Local

What policy support is needed?

35

and regional action must be guided by good

co-ordination with trade associations.
zzPromoting NAMAs, as a set of country-driven

activities leading to measureable, reportable and

verifiable greenhouse-gas emissions reduction,
and involvement of the cement industry.
zzRewarding clean energy investments, for

example fiscal incentives for WHR, and

penalising poor energy investments, for example
reducing subsidies if energy generation is
inefficient.
zzRelated to CCS in geological formations,

supporting the implementation of Clean

Development Mechanism (CDM) projects by
ensuring that the global political framework
effectively limits the risk of carbon leakage and
establishing necessary laws or regulations at
national level.

Enhance research and

development capabilities,
skills, expertise and
innovation
A significant increase in R&D over the short and
very long term is needed in the cement industry
in India, as well as globally. Investment along
the entire chain of innovation, from college-level
training to industrial-scale innovation, must come
from academia, industry, equipment suppliers
and government. For example, a new generation
of hydraulic binders could provide high emissions
reduction, but this technology is not yet well
understood or developed at scale, and needs
further R&D.
New areas of research must be funded and
expanded, for example around advanced
comminution technologies such as aeroacoustics,
ultrasonic comminution, the application of
microwave energy to improve comminution
efficiency, and electroacoustical comminution
processes. These are still in the conceptual/pilot
plant stage and not yet commercialised. Nanocements being developed contain nano-sized
particles of cement and mineral admixtures.
Research efforts focus on various fields including:
the improvement of cement and concrete
performance by incorporating nano-particles; and
the use of nano-particles to reinforce cementitious
materials for improved flexibility and toughness.

36

At present, there are no policy barriers to the use of

nano-particles in cement manufacturing; the policy
framework must, however, be well considered if this
technology is commercialised. This can only happen
if the high costs of nano-particle production are
brought down and after health hazards associated
with handling and use of nano-particles are studied.
To encourage the development of capabilities,
skills, expertise and innovation in the cement
industry, this roadmap recommends:
zzIncreasing the number and skills level of

scientific researchers with cement industry

expertise, through joint support from industry
and government for appropriate university
programmes and by creating teaching and
research positions on materials science and
climate protection by industry.
zzIntegrating or aligning research programmes at

national and international levels, and directly

involving companies in programmes.
zzEncouraging joint scientific and engineering

research projects among countries, and

establishing collaborative research programmes
or networks among companies, equipment
suppliers, research institutes and governments
to pool R&D funding and resources.
zzPromoting the elaboration of standards that

include a new generation of emerging cements

(e.g.hydraulic binders) to foster fast uptake
of cements with high potential for reducing
emissions.

Encourage international
collaboration and publicprivate partnerships
Existing international knowledge in all areas
of this roadmap must be evaluated and core
knowledge integrated into a common goal:
full-scale, global implementation for emissions
reduction technology. International collaboration
can catalyse and accelerate technological progress
in the demonstration phase. In particular, the
installation of critical CCS facilities by 2020 exceeds
the financial and technical capacity of individual
companies or countries, and so requires large-scale
co-operation at all stages.
New forms of public-private partnerships (PPP) must
be defined in which governments, R&D institutions,
the cement industry and equipment suppliers

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

work together to organise, fund, screen, develop

and demonstrate selected technologies in shorter
time frames. A relevant example from the steel
industry is the Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking (ULCOS)
project, in which a consortium of 48European
companies and organisations, financially supported
by the European Commission, are undertaking
co-operative R&D into CO2 emissions reduction from
steel production.
To encourage international co-operation and
public-private partnerships, this roadmap
recommends:
zzCreating partnerships that help minimise

technological risks and create options to increase

energy efficiency or reduce CO2 emissions, for
example the GTZ-Holcim PPP co-ordinated by
the University of Applied Sciences, Northwestern
Switzerland (www.coprocem.org).

zzEnsuring international collaboration to

potentially lead to CCS demonstration plants in

the cement industry.
zzShifting national innovation priorities to ensure

that international collaboration on R&D activities

around climate protection are effective at the
scale and pace needed.
zzAdapting technology transfer processes

to individual regions, recognising that

differences exist in availability of supply (raw
materials, alternative fuels, clinker substitutes),
legislative support and enforcement, and in
public understanding of cement manufacture
processes.

What policy support is needed?

37

Investment needs, financial support

and recommendations
The IEA estimates that the investments needed
to meet the increased cement demand in India
will range from an estimated USD118billion
to USD276billion (INR590000 crore to
INR1380000crore) for the period 2010-50.

higher costs of more efficient cement kilns,

increased use of AFR and clinker substitutes and
installation of carbon capture technologies. As
the growth in cement demand is expected to
peak in 2025-30 in India, investment needs are
also estimated to reach a peak in those years, at
USD20billion to USD46billion (INR100000crore
to INR230000crore) in the 6DS and USD22billion
to USD51billion (INR110000 crore to
INR255000crore) in the 2DS.14

The maximum implementation of energyreducing and low-carbon technologies to meet

the reductions envisage under the 2DS would
require additional investments of between USD29
billion and USD50 billion (INR145000crore to
INR250000crore) over the same period, or 15%
to 25% higher than in the 6DS. The additional
investments would be required to cover the

14. A

ssumptions used in this roadmap to estimate investments in the

cement industry are presented in Annex D.

Table 17: Cumulative investment needs in the Indian cement industry, 2010-50
6DS

2DS

Low-Demand
Case

High-Demand
Case

Low-Demand
Case

High-Demand
Case

New and refurbished kilns

117 to 144

222 to 273

123 to 150

222 to 274

Clinker substitution

1.1 to 1.4

2.3 to 2.9

1.6 to 2.0

2.7 to 3.4

Alternative fuels

5.6 to 5.9

12 to 13

Carbon capture

17 to 19

33 to 36

118 to 145

224 to 276

147 to 177

270 to 326

USD billion

Total

Notes: Investments for alternative fuels relates to onsite investment to store, load and feed kilns with AFR, and eventually the change of
burners and/or emission abatement systems. Investments in carbon capture do not include the cost of transportation and the eventual
use or permanent storage of carbon.

In the High-Demand Case, the share of additional

investment requirements for more efficient cement
kilns rises significantly, in line with the expected
production growth in this scenario. This highlights
the importance of improved efficiency in lowering
energy needs and emissions in the sector. However,
the savings from a lower clinker-to-cement ratio in
the 2DS (0.73 in the 6DS and 0.58 in the 2DS), and
the resulting smaller number of plants required
to produce the clinker, will offset the increased
investments associated with highly efficient kilns.
As a result, investments in the 2DS might be lower
than in the 6DS. Overcoming financial barriers
related to widespread technology implementation
will be important.

38

In a scenario where private industry has a choice

either to increase output or to opt for low-carbon
measures, a combination of market mechanisms
and regulations is likely needed to ensure that
investments do flow to low-carbon measures.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Figure 10: Additional investment needs

in the Indian cement industry,
Low-Demand Case, 2010-50
Additional investment
(USD 29 billion)

blend of commercial and concessional finance)

to make low-carbon initiatives financially viable,
including mechanisms to support higher costs
of retrofits.
zzR aising awareness in India of existing

New and refurbished

kilns 20%

Carbon
capture 59%

zzLow-cost financing or blended financing (a

Clinker
substitution 2%

funding mechanisms; for example, the World

Banks energy efficiency funds, IFC blended
financing options, and BEEs energy efficiency
incentivisation schemes.
zzContinuing and improving of the CDM to

Alternative
fuels 19%

KEY POINT: About half the additional

investments for a low-carbon growth
pathway in the Indian cement
industry would be required for the
application of carbon capture.

simplify procedures and reduce transaction

costs, thereby facilitating the funding of
energy efficiency, alternative fuel use, clinker
substitution projects, and the adoption of CCS in
the cement industry.
zzA llocating of international and national funding

sources for the demonstration of a CO2 capture

project.
zzFunding of research institutes to advance

demonstration projects for algal growth.

More than 50% of the additional investments will

be required for carbon capture. CCS development
and demonstration will require support from the
international community as the domestic industry
cannot bear these costs alone. Post-combustion
capture technology could double the investment
needs of a cement plant. Traditional financing
criteria used by industry are not appropriate for
CCS unless a global carbon price (or incentive)
is sufficiently high to correctly value the cost of
mitigating CO2 emissions. Unlike energy efficiency
technologies that show a return on investment
through reduced fuels costs, carbon capture
technologies result in higher operating costs.
Funding for CCS demonstration in cement is
urgently needed.
To encourage investment and financial support,
this roadmap recommends:
zzN ew mechanisms emerging from the climate

negotiations, such as new market mechanisms

and climate finance, combined with Indias PAT
scheme ESCerts or REC scheme could allow
for financing of CO2 reduction options in the
cement industry. The industry should be actively
engaged in the development of international
mechanisms to ensure the creation of a viable
funding path for low-carbon investment.

Investment needs, financial support and recommendations

39

40

Ministry of New
and Renewable
Energy

Ministry of
Finance

Ministry of
Environment
and Forests (incl.
Central and State
Pollution Control
Boards)

Ministry of
Consumer Affairs,
Food & Public
Distribution (incl.
Bureau of Indian
Standards)

Ministry of
Commerce and
Industry (incl.
Department of
Industrial Policy
and Promotion)

All stakeholders

Stakeholders

renewable energy generation units for cement industry captive power requirements.

zz Enable inter-state export of renewable energy through the national grid with lower wheeling charges to facilitate the installation of

zz Develop policy and fiscal incentives for renewable energy.

zz Reward clean energy investments e.g. through renewable energy certificates.

zz Grant renewable energy status to WHR systems, and ensure it is financially viable through appropriate incentives.

zz Ensure financing is available for the piloting and demonstration of carbon capture and storage.

zz Sustain funding for the development and deployment of new transformational technologies.

proliferation of low-carbon technologies.

zz Deploy various sources of green finance (e.g. Clean Technology Fund) within industry (public and private sector) to ensure uptake and

techniques in Indian thermal power plants.

zz To increase use of blended cement, improve the quality of fly ash through efficient coal blending systems and controlled coal combustion

zz Develop policy and guidelines to facilitate inter-state transportation of AFR.

regulation and awareness-raising campaigns and through industry training and education.

zz To ensure acceptance of AFR use by the cement industry, address public and market barriers for AFR and co-processing through modified

frequency for AFR use in cement kilns is regulated.

zz Develop legislation on AFR to focus on emission limits, rather than the input characteristics of waste streams. Ensure emissions monitoring

zz Identify and classify suitable materials that can be used as AFR.

zz Ensure that legislation on waste management in India enables effective waste collection, treatment and processing.

zz Implement appropriate policies and practices in favour of increased AFR use in India.

zz Develop standards and implement regulation for clinker substitutes.

zz Develop standards and implement regulation for composite cement and Portland Limestone Cement.

zz Allocate good quality linkage coal to the cement industry to maximize the life of Indian limestone deposits.

zz Ensure attractive financial incentives to enable widespread use of blended cement.

zz Intensify experience-sharing and knowledge transfer among industry in India and globally.

zz Intensify collaboration to drive implementation of best available technology across all cement plants in India.

Action item

Roadmap action plan

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Roadmap action plan

41

Industry
associations

Cement
manufacturers

Planning
Commission

Ministry of Urban
Development

Ministry of Steel

Ministry of
Science and
Technology (incl.
Fly Ash Mission)

Ministry of Power
(incl. Bureau of
Energy Efficiency)

Stakeholders

for adopting low-carbon technologies.

zz Create awareness among industry about the various funds or loan schemes in India, and about the financial incentives, fiscal benefits, etc.,

zz Drive a major thrust in R&D to advance the newer types of low-carbon cement from pilot to demonstration scales.

zz Engage in international collaboration for carbon capture and storage.

information on AFR R&D already undertaken elsewhere, which identifies the OH&S risks of AFR, and how to mitigate them.

zz Disseminate technical competence on low-carbon technologies e.g. on co-processing different kinds of AFR at workable levels and share

zz Gather reliable industry-level energy and emissions data to track performance and identify benchmarks.

zz Where regulatory framework is supportive, install WHR systems in new and refurbished plants.

zz Improve consumer awareness on cement characteristics and applications, and promote the use of blended cement.

commercially viable.

zz Deploy existing state-of-the-art technologies in new cement plants, and retrofit existing plant with energy efficiency equipment when

zz Share global and national experiences on low-carbon technologies e.g. AFR to avoid the need for repeat testing in India.

rate of implementation of all levers outlined in this roadmap.

zz Conduct cement plant-level assessment of low-carbon technology implementation and establish plant-level action plans to accelerate the

policy decisions towards incentivizing and facilitating low-carbon growth.

zz Ensure development of Five Year Plans incorporates findings from Low-Carbon inclusive Growth analysis and other relevant studies to guide

zz Develop and implement regulation on municipal solid waste collection and segregation.

cement industry and therefore increase blending ratios.

zz Create an economically viable infrastructure to augment steel plants and granulate all blast furnace slag generated so it can be used in the

zz Launch a public awareness campaign for carbon capture and storage.

zz Oversee a near-term approach to facilitate development of carbon capture and storage.

zz Facilitate transportation of blending materials between the source and the cement plant.

zz Put in place a support mechanism for the development and deployment of new transformational technologies.

techniques in Indian thermal power plant.

zz To increase use of blended cement, improve the quality of fly ash through efficient coal blending systems and controlled coal combustion

adoption of best available technology for new plants, retrofitting of old plants and to enable the implementation of WHR.

zz Provide incentives and loan guarantees to support investments for technologies that improve thermal and electrical efficiency, including

zz Ensure effective implementation of the PAT scheme and its continuation in subsequent cycles.

Action item

42

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Multilateral
development
banks (MDBs),
export credit
agencies and
local finance
institutions

Academic
/ research
institutions
/ equipment
manufacturers

Stakeholders

funding opportunities of such a transition.

zzWork together with the cement industry to better understand changes in funding requirements of a low-carbon cement sector and

zzMake available CDM and other carbon finance schemes to fund carbon capture and storage.

zzProvide attractive funding or ensure loan guarantees for investments in low-carbon technologies (export credit agencies and MDBs).

which contribute to the demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies (similar to those identified in this
roadmap) having potential for greenhouse-gas emissions reduction (MDBs).

zzB lend concessional climate funds with commercial funds resulting in a variety of financial products for programs and technologies

technologies. Concessional climate funds should be used to leverage local private investments (MDBs).

zzWork jointly with local finance institutions to develop finance mechanisms for investments in energy efficiency and other low-carbon

zzCommit to invest in climate change mitigation and reflect this in their strategies (MDBs).

zz Conduct R&D on carbon capture and storage to help industry move through pilot to demonstration phase to widespread implementation.

zz Conduct R&D on fuel cells and large-scale adoption of futuristic comminution technologies.

zz Drive the emergence of transformational technologies.

implementation attractive; and conduct R&D to promote and increase the use of appropriate technology.

zz Conduct research to support the maximisation of power generation from already-proven WHR systems to help make overall economics of

demonstrating the possible extent of clinker substitution in cement; on the use of non-granulated blast furnace slag; on enhancing lime
reactivity of dump/pond ash and making non-conforming fly ash reactive, and ensure adequate R&D on the blending activation process.

zz Enhance R&D to improve the uptake of existing low-carbon technologies e.g. on use of pond/dump ash deposits in blended cement; on

zz Conduct R&D to identify the likely emissions of any specific AFR material in any given combustion condition; and communicate results.

Action item

Annex A: Glossary
Biomass: any organic, i.e. decomposing, matter
derived from plants or animals available on a
renewable basis. Biomass includes wood and
agricultural crops, herbaceous and wood energy
crops, municipal organic wastes as well as manure.

Petcoke: or, petroleum coke is a carbon-based solid

derived from oil refineries.

Blended cement: portland cement mixed with

clinker substitutes.

Precalciner: a system which comes before the rotary

kiln in the cement manufacturing process when
most of the limestone calcination is accomplished,
making the process more energy-efficient.

Carbon leakage: an increase in CO2 emissions in

one country as a result of emissions reduction in
a second country, e.g. if that second country has a
stricter climate policy.
Cement: a building material made by grinding
clinker together with various mineral components
such as gypsum, limestone, blast furnace slag, coal
fly ash and natural volcanic material. Cement acts as
a binding agent when mixed with sand, gravel and/
or crushed stone and water to make concrete. While
cement qualities are defined by national standards,
there is no worldwide, harmonised definition and/
or standard for cement. In the WBCSD CSI Protocol
and the GNR database, cement includes all
hydraulic binders that are delivered to the final
customer, i.e. all types of Portland, composite and
blended cements, plus ground granulated slag
and fly ash delivered to the concrete mixers, but
excludes clinker.

Pozzolana: a material, when combined with calcium

hydroxide, exhibits cementitious properties.

Sectoral approach: a combination of policies and

measures developed to enhance efficient, sector
by sector GHG gas mitigation within the UNFCCC.
Producers and their host country governments
adopt a set of emissions goals, which may vary by
country, or take other co-ordinated action to help
combat climate chance.
Dry kiln: equipment that produces clinker without
using a water/limestone slurry mix as the feedstock.
Wet kiln: equipment that produces clinker using
water/limestone slurry as the feedstock.

Clinker: an intermediate product in cement

manufacturing and the main substance in cement.
Clinker is the result of calcination of limestone in
the kiln and subsequent reactions caused through
burning.
Comminution: a process in which solid materials are
reduced in size, by natural or industrial processes
including crushing and grinding, or a process in
which useful materials are freed from embedded
matrix materials. For industrial purposes this takes
place to increase surface area of solids.
Co-processing: the use of waste materials in
industrial processes, e.g. cement, as a substitute for
primary fuel or raw materials.
Fly ash: exhaust-borne particulates generated and
captured at coal-fired power plants.
Geopolymer cement: is manufactured with chains
or networks of mineral molecules producing 80% to
90% less CO2 then OPC.
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC): the most common
type of cement, consisting of over 90% ground
clinker and about 5% gypsum.

Annex A: Glossary

43

Annex B: Abbreviations, acronyms

and units of measurement
Abbreviations and acronyms
2DS

2C Scenario

6DS

6C Scenario

MRV monitoring, reporting and verification

MSW municipal solid waste
NAMA nationally appropriate mitigation action

AFBC atmospheric fluidised-bed combustion

AFR

alternative fuels and raw materials

Al2O3

alumina

BAT

best available technologies

BEE

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (India)

BIF

Boiler and Industrial Furnace

BIS

Bureau of Indian Standards

CaCO3

calcium carbonate

CAPEX

capital expenditure

CCS

carbon capture and storage

NAPCC National Action Plan on Climate Change

NCB National Council for Cement and Building
Materials (India)
NGO non-governmental organisation
NOx nitrogen oxide
NMEEE National Mission for Enhanced Energy
Efficiency (India)
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development
OH&S operational health and safety
OPC Ordinary Portland Cement

CDM Clean Development Mechanism

CFBC circulating fluidised-bed combustion
CII Confederation of Indian Industry
CMA Cement Manufacturers Association (India)

PAT Perform, Achieve and Trade (India)

PLC Portland Limestone Cement
PPC Portland Pozzolana Cement
PPP public-private partnership
PRGFEE Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy
Efficiency (India)

CO2 carbon dioxide

CPP captive power plant
CSI Cement Sustainability Initiative
ESCerts Energy Savings Certificates (India)
ETP 2012 Energy Technology Perspectives 2012
EU European Union
FAKS fluidised-bed advanced cement kiln
system

PSC

Portland Slag Cement

PV

photovoltaic

R&D

research and development

RDF

refuse-derived fuel

RE

renewable energy

REC Renewable Energy Certificate

RPO Renewable Purchase Obligation

Fe2O3 iron oxide

FMCG fast-moving consumer goods

SiO2

silica

TSR thermal substitution rate

GBFS ground blast furnace slag

GDP gross domestic product

ULCOS Ultra-Low CO2 Steelmaking

GNR Getting the Numbers Right

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change

IEA International Energy Agency

IFC International Finance Corporation

USD United States dollar

INR Indian rupee

US-EPA United States Environmental Protection

Agency

IREDA Indian Renewable Energy Development

Agency

VCFEE Venture Capital Fund for Energy Efficiency

(India)

MDB

LCA life-cycle assessment

WBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable

Development

MgO magnesium oxide

WHR waste heat recovery

multilateral development bank

MNRE Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

44

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Units of measure

MJ

megajoule (106 joules)

degree Celsius

Mt

million tonne (106 tonnes)

cm

centimetre

MTPA

million tonne per annum

GJ

gigajoule (109 joules)

Mtoe

million tonne of oil equivalent

Gt

gigatonne (109 tonnes)

MW

megawatt (106 watt)

GWh

gigawatt hour (10 9 watt hour)

PJ

petajoule (1015 joules)

kcal

kilocalorie (103 calories)

tonne

kg

kilogramme (103 grammes)

tpd

tonne per day

kWh

kilowatt hour (103 watt hour)

Annex B: Abbreviations, acronyms and units of measurement

45

Annex C: References
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) (2012), Perform,
Achieve, Trade, BEE, Delhi.

IEA (2009), Technology Roadmap: Carbon Capture

and Storage, OECD/IEA, Paris.

Centre of Science and Environment (2010),

Challenge of the New Balance: a Study of the Six Most
Emissions Intensive Sectors to Determine Indias Low
Carbon Growth Options, CSE, Delhi.

IEA (2011), Energy Transition for Industry: India and

the Global Context, OECD/IEA, Paris.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sohrabji

Godrej Green Business Centre (2010), Low-Carbon
Roadmap for Indian Cement Industry, CII, Hyderabad.
European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) (2009),
Development of State of the Art Techniques in Cement
Manufacturing: Trying to Look Ahead, ECRA-CSI,
Dusseldorf.
ECRA (2012), Technical Papers for the Indian Cement
Industry - Looking Behind the Data, ECRA-CSI,
Dusseldorf.
European Union (EU) (2010), The Reference
Document on Best Available Techniques in the Cement,
Lime and Magnesium Oxide Manufacturing Industries,
EU, Brussels.
EU (2000), Directive 2000/76/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 4December 2000 on
the Incineration of Waste (2000), EU, Brussels.
Government of India (GoI) Planning Commission
(2011), Interim Report of the Expert Group on Low
Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth, Planning
Commission, New Delhi.

IEA (2012), Energy Technology Perspective 2012,

Pathways to a Clean Energy System, OECD/IEA, Paris.
McKinsey (2010), McKinsey, Indias Urban
Awakening: Building Inclusive Cities, Sustaining
Economic Growth, New York.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Government of India (2011) Strategic Plan for New
and Renewable Energy Sector for the Period 2011-17,
MNRE, New Delhi.
United Nations Division of the Department of
Economics and Social Affairs (UN DESA) (2011),
World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision, UN
DESA, New York.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
(US-EPA) (2001), Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA) Regulation: 40 CFR Part 264
Subpart O-Incinerators and Part 265 Subpart
O-Incinerators, Washington.
WBCSD (2012) Existing and Potential Technologies
for Carbon Emissions Reductions in the Indian Cement
Industry, WBCSD, Geneva.

International Energy Agency (IEA)/World Business

Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
(2009), Cement Technology Roadmap 2009 Carbon
Emission Reductions up to 2050, OECD/IEA and
WBCSD, Paris and Geneva.

46

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Annex D:
Model methodology and assumptions
As part of the IEA global work on energy use and
emissions reduction, industry is modelled using a
stock accounting model that covers (in detail) five
energy-intensive sectors: iron and steel, cement,
chemicals and petrochemicals, pulp and paper, and
aluminium. Demand is estimated based on country
(or regional-level) data for GDP, disposable income,
short-term industry capacity, current materials
consumption, demand saturation rates and resource
endowments. Total production is simulated by
factors such as process, age structure (vintage) of
plants and stock turnover rates. Overall production
is similar across scenarios, but means of production
differ considerably. For example, the same level of
crude steel production is expected in both the 6DS
and 2DS, but the 2DS reflects a much higher use of
scrap (which is less intensive than production from
raw materials). Each industry sub-model is designed
to account for sector-specific production routes.
Changes in the technology mix and efficiency
improvements are driven by external assumptions on
penetration of BATs at each given time. The analysis
incorporates the projected relative cost of those
technologies, as well as how marginal abatement
costs in industry compare to those in other sectors
during the given time period. Thus, results are
sensitive to assumptions on how quickly physical
capital is turned over and to how effective incentives
are for the use of BATs for new construction.

The five industry-specific sub-models have the

same basic structure: each comprises three different
modules: the basic assumptions and input
module, the technology specification module,
and the output module where detailed energy
consumption and emissions data are presented.

The basic assumptions

and inputs
The starting point of the model is the basic
assumption and input module. This module
comprises assumptions on the per capita demand
of materials (such as crude steel, cement and
aluminium) used to derive total production by each
region. The materials assumptions are developed
using different macro-economic drivers such as
GDP, income, expected capacity addition, the
current consumption and production of materials
and resource endowment in a region.
The cement demand forecast is a crucial parameter
to assess potential energy and emissions reduction.
In the IEA ETP-industry model, the cement demand
intensity in India (expressed in kilogramme of
cement per capita) is projected to 2050 using
the expected growth in GDP per capita, and the
expected elasticity of cement demand and per capita
income. The elasticity, which decreases through time
to account for an increase in infrastructure maturity,
is assumed to be higher in the High-Demand Case.

TableD.1: Key parameters of the basic assumptions and input module for India
2010

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

GDP (billion 2010 USD at

purchasing power parity)

4060

5993

8337

11121

14727 19366 24999 31188 37721

Population (million)

1225

1308

1387

1459

1523

1580

Per-capita income (2010 USD

at purchasing power parity/
capita)

3316

4581

6011

7623

9667

12258 15365 18737 22294

1627

2045

1665

2050

1692

Cement demand intensity (kg/capita)

Low-Demand Case

188

257

309

352

400

431

446

462

467

High-Demand Case

188

270

364

457

565

652

735

784

812

Low-Demand Case

217

324

416

502

598

670

715

759

780

High-Demand Case

217

341

492

653

848

1017

1183

1293

1361

Cement production (Mt)

Annex D: Model methodology and assumptions

47

The technology specification

The model also takes into consideration the relative

intensity of the new, refurbished and retired units
during each period of time.

The initial historical values for the clinker-to-cement

ratio, specific electricity and thermal consumption
and fuel shares are provided to the model. The
changes in these parameters between the base
year and 2050 are related to the dynamic of the
production and the assumptions on the rate of
implementation of technologies and options.

In this module, there are noticeable difference

between the 6DS and the 2DS:
zzt he 2DS assumes that all new industrial plants

are build with BAT (in the 6DS, there is a mix of

average and BAT units);
zzt he 2DS has a quicker turn-over, as plants are

The production derived in the first module is used

to develop estimates of how many new units
will be required. Based on average lifespan of
each technology (or plants), this module will also
calculate the number of plants refurbished and
retired between each period specified (the IEA ETPindustrial model is working in steps of five years).

refurbished (or, in some case, retired) before

their anticipated end-of-life;
zzt he mix of fuel remains relatively stable in the

6DS; the 2DS assumes a shift to AFR; and

zzt he 2DS assumes the use of CCS.

TableD.2: Main output of the technology specification module

2DS Low-Demand Case

2DS High-Demand Case

2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

2020

2030

2040

2050

Cement-to-clinker ratio

0.74

0.70

0.64

0.60

0.58

0.70

0.64

0.60

0.58

Clinker production (Mt)

161

290

382

429

449

342

544

713

794

Thermal intensity (kcal/kgclinker)

725

709

694

685

680

703

690

682

678

Electric intensity (kWh/tcement)

80

76

73

72

71

75

72

71

70

Biomass and waste fuel share

0.6

19

24

25

19

24

25

Coal share

98

93

78

71

71

93

78

73

70

Oil share

1.4

1.2

1.2

2.2

0.9

1.2

1.0

0.7

0.6

Natural gas share

0.0

0.7

1.4

2.1

2.8

0.7

1.4

2.1

4.2

% carbon capture

0%

1%

9%

17%

25%

2%

10%

20%

28%

Note: Electric intensity of cement production does not include the reductions that may come from the use of WHR.

The outputs
Energy consumption in the cement sector is
calculated from clinker and cement production and
intensity values. CO2 emissions are calculated using
fuel-specific and process-related emission intensity.

TableD.3. Emission factors used in this roadmap

Coal
Oil
Natural gas
Process emissions
Alternative fuels
Tyres
Plastics
Biomass/renewable

48

4.36 tCO2/toe
3.24 tCO2/toe
2.34 tCO2/toe
0.5071 tCO2/t clinker
composition
40%
20%
40%

emission factor (tCO2/toe)

3.08
3.08
0

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Investments
The investment analysis presented in this roadmap
is only a partial assessment of the investment
needed for energy-consuming equipment. Only
major energy-consuming equipment and devices
have been covered, as sufficient data do not exist
to accurately project the quantity and price of a
wide range of small energy-consuming devices. The
boundary placed on investment costs is also
in question.

This roadmap estimates that investments required

to build a new plant amount to approximately
USD200/t clinker capacity. However, it is assumed
that reaching BAT or target plant level would
require additional investment of 10% to 25%. The
roadmap also assumes that investments between
USD27/tCO2 and USD33/tCO2 will be required
for clinker substitutes and between USD15 and
USD20/tclinker capacity for AFR. Additional
investments of USD75/tCO2 to USD150/tCO2 will be
required for the implementation of CCS.

As a result of this, given the more widely available

information on the marginal cost of energy
efficiency options, the relative increase or decrease
in investment needs in the 2DS compared to the
6DS should be treated with greater confidence than
the absolute level of investments.

Annex D: Model methodology and assumptions

49

Annex E: Definition of reference, best available

technology and target average performance
Unit

Reference plant

BAT plant

Target average
performance
in 2050

Clinker capacity

mMTPA

1.5

1.5

1.5

Cement capacity

mMTPA

2.10

2.30

2.70

tpd

4500

4500

4500

Modern, dry,
precalciner
preheater

Modern, dry,
precalciner
preheater

Modern, dry,
precalciner
preheater

Number of stages in
preheater

6 or 7

Single string/double
string

Single

Single

Single

Reciprocating
grate cooler

Latest generation
cooler

Latest generation
cooler

1.5

1.5

1.5

Parameter

Kiln capacity
Kiln type

Type of cooler
Raw meal to clinker
factor
Specific thermal
energy consumption

kcal/kgclinker

715

685

680

Specific thermal
energy consumption

MJ/Mtclinker

2990

2865

2846

ratio

0.72

0.65

0.58

Specific power
production

kWh/Mtcement

75

69.5

69.5

Raw mill

kWh/Mtcement

16

15.5

15.5

Coal mill

kWh/Mtcement

Pyro processing

kWh/Mtcement

24

21

21

Up to clinkerisation

kWh/Mtcement

45

41.5

41.5

Cement grinding

kWh/Mtcement

30

28

28

TSR %

25.3

INR/kWh

4.5

Fuel cost for cement

kiln

INR/Mkcal

800

900

1000

Gross CO2 emission

per Mt cementitious
product

kgCO2/Mt
cementitious
product

720

665

560

Clinker factor

AFR usage
Cost of electricity

Reference plant has been considered to be in the

top 20 percentile of the Indian cement industry.
More than 50% of the capacity of the Indian
cement industry is less than ten years old and all
recent plants have had high-level energy efficiency
practices incorporated, therefore, the reference
plant is considered for all emission reduction

50

estimates in the technology papers (add reference

here). Industry, as a whole, may achieve these
average numbers by the year 2020. Target plant
incorporates all wish list ideas and practices and
could depict the average performance of the Indian
cement industry by the year 2035.

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Annex F: Process of roadmap development

January 2010

September 2011 to June 2012

I EA workshop on International Comparisons

of Industrial Energy Efficiency with Indian and
international experts.

Continued working group meetings across India

to review and refine a set of 27 technical papers,
including input from industry experts from outside
India, as well as equipment suppliers, industry
associations, research institutions, and other
industries from India.

Establishment of India Energy Technology

Perspectives (ETP)-expert group on industry.
August 2010
Launch of ETP2010in India and review of the draft
document Energy Transition for Industry: India and
the Global Context.
Initial discussion on development of a joint
roadmap for the cement industry.
January to March 2011
Preparatory meetings with partners and CSI
companies, and establishment of expert working
group with nine CSI member companies in India
and three member companies in Europe.

Outreach to CSIs 24 global members at CSI annual

forum in Thailand.
Formal engagement established between CSI
Secretariat and Cement Manufacturers Association.
November 2011
Outreach at NCBs annual seminar and in CSI CEO
meeting at global level. Specific webpage created
on roadmap.
January 2012

Agreement on modelling assumptions, roadmap

objectives and parameters.

Stakeholder dialogue on policy and financing

to obtain input on policy and financing barriers
and support for implementation of the technical
papers. Approximately 50 experts from financial
institutions, research organisations, and
government agencies participated. Simultaneous
launch of technical paper external consultation
period.

June 2011

January to September 2012

Stakeholder dialogue on low-carbon growth to

agree on the scope and technologies to be covered
in industry technical papers (33 industry experts
gathered in Mumbai and 25 in Delhi).

Modelling and drafting of roadmap completed

and by all partners with extensive internal and
external consultation periods for feedback.

Funding and support structure agreed.

May 2011
Initiation meeting with all partners, selection of
collaboration partners.

July to December 2011

Data collection takes place to obtain current
energy and emissions data from 65% of the Indian
cement industry through CSIs Getting the
Numbers Right (GNR) database, and individual
surveying of industry in India by CII for use in
modelling by the IEA.

Phase II structure and parameters agreed.

January 2013
Launch of the roadmap and technical papers.
Phase II begins and plants identified.

January to September 2012

Modelling by the IEA with continuous reiterations
following input from industry and other stakeholders.

Annex F: Process of roadmap development

51

Roadmap partners
International
Energy Agency (IEA)

World Business Council for

Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI)

The IEA is an autonomous body, which was

established in November 1974 within the framework
of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) to implement an international
energy programme.
The IEA carries out a comprehensive programme
of energy co-operation among 28 of the 34 OECD
countries. The basic aims of the IEA are:
zzto maintain and improve systems for coping with

oil supply disruptions;

zzto promote rational energy policies in a global

context through co-operative relations with nonmember countries, industry and international
organisations;
zzto operate a permanent information system on

international oil markets;

zzto provide data on other aspects of international

energy markets;
zzto improve the worlds energy supply and

demand structure by developing alternative

energy sources and increasing the efficiency of
energy use;
zzto promote international collaboration on

energy technology; and

zzto assist in the integration of environmental

and energy policies, including those relating to

climate change.

The CSI is a global effort by 25 major cement

producers with operations in more than 100
countries who believe there is a strong business
case for the pursuit of sustainable development.
Collectively these companies account for about
one-third of the worlds cement production and
range in size from very large multinationals to
smaller local producers.
The members of the CSI a voluntary business
initiative from around the world have been
addressing climate change issues for more than a
decade. The CSI is currently working to understand
the impact of cements whole life cycle, i.e. from
quarrying limestone or obtaining alternative raw
materials from other industries, to the end product
as concrete and recycled aggregates.
To date, the CSI remains one of the largest global
sustainability programs ever undertaken by a single
industry sector. To find out more, visit
www.wbcsdcement.org.
In India, nine member companies collaborated
on the roadmap development. They are: ACC
Ltd. (project Co-Chair), Ambuja Cements Ltd.,
HeidelbergCement India Ltd., Lafarge India Private
Ltd., My Home Industries Ltd. CRH, Shree Cement
(project Co-Chair), Shree Digvijay Cement Co Ltd.
Cimpor Group, UltraTech Cement Ltd. (project
Co-Chair) and Zuari Cement. Since starting the
roadmap, Dalmia Bharat Cement and Jaypee
Cement have also joined CSI.

Dark Blue: Pantone 289

Light Blue: Pantone 646

52

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

Supported by

In collaboration with

International Finance
Corporation (IFC)

Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII)

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group is the

largest global development institution focused
exclusively on the private sector. We help
developing countries achieve sustainable growth by
financing investment, providing advisory services
to businesses and governments, and mobilising
capital in the international financial markets. In
fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the
globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen
environmental performance, and contribute to
their local communities - all while driving our
investments to an all-time high of nearly USD19
billion. For more information, visit www.ifc.org

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to

create and sustain an environment conducive to the
growth of industry in India, partnering industry and
government alike through advisory and consultative
processes.

IFC in South Asia

To grow opportunities for the underserved, IFC in
South Asia has concentrated on low-income, rural,
and fragile regions while building infrastructure and
assisting public-private-partnerships; facilitating
renewable energy generation; promoting
cleaner production, energy and water efficiency;
supporting agriculture and sustainable forestry;
creating growth opportunities for small businesses;
reforming investment climate; encouraging lowincome housing; and making affordable healthcare
accessible. Through these strategic interventions
in the region, IFC aims to promote economic
inclusion at the base of the pyramid, particularly
in the low-income states of India; help address
climate change impacts; and encourage global and
regional integration .IFC focuses on building on its
experiences to engage in working with the private
sector in the region to develop measures that will
increase incomes for the poor and small businesses.
IFC has tried to support projects that are difficult in
nature, first of its kind and reform oriented. We are
increasingly being engaged by governments when
they see we bring unique knowledge, experience
and access to a wide network of investors, and
sector expertise.
IFC Sustainable Business Advisory promotes
sustainable business practices among firms, to
promote investment practices addressing climate
change. Resource Efficiency teams work with firms
and at the sector level to save costs, prevent waste,
and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through
more efficient use of energy, water and materials.

CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry

led and industry managed organisation, playing
a proactive role in Indias development process.
Founded over 116 years ago, it is Indias premier
business association, with a direct membership of
over 8100 organisations from the private as well
as public sectors, including small and medium
enterprises and multinationals, and an indirect
membership of over 90000 companies from around
400 national and regional sectoral associations.
www.cii.in
CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
(CII - Godrej GBC), a division of CII is Indias premier
developmental institution, offering advisory
services to the industry on environmental aspects
and works in the areas of green buildings, energy
efficiency, water management, environment
management, renewable energy, green business
incubation and climate change activities.
www.greenbusinesscentre.com
National Council for Cement
and Building Materials (NCB)
The National Council for Cement and Building
Materials (NCB) is an apex R&D organisation
functioning under the administrative control of
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion,
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of
India. NCB, in the service of the nation, is devoted
to technology development and transfer, testing
and calibration, human resource development and
consultancy services for the benefit of cement and
construction industry for about the last 50 years.
Its multi-disciplinary activities are performed in an
integrated and co-ordinated manner through its
two larger units located at Ballabgarh (near Delhi)
and Hyderabad (Both ISO: 9001-2008 Certified)
and the third unit at Ahmedabad, guided by the six
corporate centers.
www.ncbindia.com

Roadmap partners

53

Disclaimer
This report is the result of a collaborative effort between the IEA and the World Business Council for
Sustainable Developments ( WBCSD) Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI). The individual member
companies, subsidiaries and joint ventures in India that make up the CSI have participated in the development
of this report, but have made no specific commitments on implementation of any technologies described in
the report. Users of this report shall take their own independent business decisions at their own risk and, in
particular, without undue reliance on this report. Nothing in this report shall constitute professional advice,
and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made in respect to the completeness or accuracy
of the contents of this report. Neither the WBCSD, nor the IEA accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct
or indirect damages resulting from any use of this report or its contents. A wide range of experts reviewed
drafts. However, the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views or policy of either the CSI, or
their member companies, or of the IEA, or its individual member countries. For further information, please
contact: [email protected] or [email protected].
This publication may contain advice, opinions, and statements of various information providers and content
providers. The International Finance Corporation does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability
of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided by any information provider or content
provider, or any user of this publication or other person or entity.

The roadmap is the result of a collaborative effort between the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the
World Business Council on Sustainable Development Cement Sustainability Initiative (WBCSD CSI). WBCSD
and IEA wish to thank the International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, for
part-funding this initiative and for their valuable contribution in the development on the roadmap content.
This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status
of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers
and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Copyright IEA and WBCSD, 2013
IEA Publications, 9 rue de la Fdration, 75739 PARIS CEDEX 15
Printed in India by Lustra Print Process Pvt. Ltd., January 2013
ISBN: 978-2-940521-00-5
Cover design: IEA. Photo credits: ACC; Twigg.
Front cover photo (large): ACC, worlds highest capacity kiln (operates in India)
Back cover photo (large): ACC, concrete arterial road surface of Marine Drive, Mumbai, India;
Back cover photo (small): Twigg, aggregate trucks in Andhra Pradesh, India.

The paper used for this document and the forest from which it comes have received FSC certification for meeting
a set of strict environmental and social standards. The FSC is an international, membership-based, non-profit organisation
that supports environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the worlds forests.

Online
bookshop
I
e la
n
t
er
ed
n
a
9 ru
tiona
l Energy Agency

Buy IEA publications

online:

www.iea.org/books
PDF versions available
at 20% discount

r
d
F

at
io
n

Books published before January 2012

- except statistics publications are freely available in pdf

75
73
9 Pa
ris Ce
dex 15, France

Tel: +33 (0)1 40 57 66 90

E-mail:

[email protected]

Technology Roadmap Low-Carbon Technology for the Indian Cement Industry

2012

2015

2020

2025

2030

World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD

4, chemin de Conches, 1231 Conches-Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)22 839 31 00, Fax: +41 (0)22 839 31 31
E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.wbcsd.org

International Energy Agency IEA

9 rue de la Fdration, 75015 Paris, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 57 65 00/01, Fax: +33 (0)1 40 57 65 59
Email: [email protected], Web: www.iea.org