RILEM WEBINAR: A Latin American perspective on the path towards carbon neutrality in the cement and concrete industry

The next ROC&TOK webinar of 2022 will take place on Thursday, May 5th, 2022 at 3PM Paris Time and will be one hour long (30-minute presentation + 30-minute interaction). The registration for this webinar is free.

Speaker: Dr. Yury Villagrán-Zaccardi, Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium) and CONICET (La Plata, Argentina)

Host: Professor Karen Scrivener, EPFL

Title: A Latin American perspective on the path towards carbon neutrality in the cement and concrete industry

Emission levels in the cement and concrete industry are on a challenging path towards carbon neutrality to limit global warming. To this end, clinker reduction has been one of the main strategies in recent decades. New supplementary cementitious materials are still needed to supply an emerging market such as Latin America and the Caribbean, without relying on large clinker production volumes. However, this potential contribution is only a fraction of the carbon reduction required to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality in the coming decades. The opportunities and strategies for the cement and concrete industry in Latin America and the Caribbean are limited by the market structure and investment constraints in these emerging economies. Factors such as the level of industrialisation in production and advanced design for durability can help reduce further carbon emissions while the region continues to grow economically. This presentation will share recent discussions within a specially established Lat-RILEM+FICEM committee on the strategies in the cement and concrete industry to limit global warming. This Latin America and the Caribbean perspective takes into account the particular geography, the asymmetric human development requirements and the specific aspects of the regional market.