Concrete makers face heavy lift on climate pledges – Reuters

Concrete makers face heavy lift on climate pledges – Reuters

MEXICO CITY, July 1 (Reuters) - Cemex, North America’s biggest concrete producer, has vowed to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 40% before 2030 and to eliminate them by 2050, ambitious goals reflecting growing pressure on the industry from regulators and investors.

But steep challenges in technology, cost-control, environmental regulation and building-code compliance could snarl the effort, underscoring the difficulty in cleaning up an industry that is among the world’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, according to interviews with Cemex officials, cement and concrete industry groups and specialists in industry emissions.

Cement, a key ingredient in concrete, contributes about 8% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to Chatham House, a London think tank. That’s far more than global aviation, according to data from the Air Transport Action Group, an industry group. The cement industry produces more CO2 than any nation except for the United States, China and India, according to the International Energy Agency. (See graphic.)