1
Compiled by Dr. Joe Herbertson
June 2001
Sustainable Resource Processing
Cement (Portland cement)
Annual World   Australia
Production     Mt %
Portland cement  1700        0.4
MAJOR INPUTS
Cement clinker
Stage cost ~US$30
Limestone          1.35t
Coal               0.15t
Cement
stage cost ~ US$7
gypsum              0.05t
pozzolans    0.05t
Electricity 0.5 GJ
WASTES & EMISSIONS
CO2 from calcining
limestone               0.5t
CO2 from fuel
combustion                 0.45t
CO2 from electricity
generation                  0.12t
 Total process CO2    1.06t
Cement kiln dust         0.04t
1 t Portland cement
(annual production 1700 Mt)
A simplified summary of some of the major inputs and outputs to produce ‘world average’ Portland cement
•Portland cement is by far the largest annual mass of any chemically transformed mineral product
•The major emission is CO2 and emissions from cement making account for around 7% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and 2% of Australian emissions
•
•
•
•
Annual production of 1.7Bn tonnes of cement corresponds with the need for aggregate at say  5 times that volume, and the associated environmental impacts of quarrying etc