building a better future - Cemex

our approach
CEMEX operates in an energy-intensive industry facing
several environmental challenges. Given this reality, applying
a comprehensive carbon strategy is at once a necessity
and an opportunity for our business. CEMEX has designed its
carbon strategy to help reduce the environmental impacts of
its operations, while creating economic value and driving the
construction industry’s participation in the development of a
low-carbon economy.
The following are the key components of our carbon strategy:
1) Reducing the ecological footprint of our production process
• Replacing traditional fossil fuels with lower-emission
alternatives
• Reducing the clinker content in cement
• Increasing our use of renewable electricity and the energy
efficiency of our operations
2) Aligning our operations and initiatives with international
standards, regulations, and market-based mechanisms for
emissions reduction
challenges ahead:
Reducing the clinker factor in our cement
products is an ongoing effort and a challenge
due to the limited availability of
alternative raw materials (fly ash, slag, and
pozzolan), the high logistics costs related
to their transport, and limited market acceptance
of cement and concrete products
using these clinker substitutes.
We also face the challenge of securing
long-term supply contracts for alternative
fuels and complying with more stringent
environmental permitting processes for our
operations.
• Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) within the WBCSD
demonstrates CEMEX’s ongoing commitment to industry
best practices, idea sharing, and transparency. For example,
CEMEX participates in Getting the Numbers Right (GNR),
a sector-wide global information database covering more
than 800 facilities in more than 100 countries. GNR provides
accurate, verified data on the cement industry’s CO2
emissions and energy performance.
• Participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project, a voluntary
initiative that requests annual information on climatechange
performance and risk management.
• Compliance with the mandates of the European Union
Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) prepares CEMEX for
ever-increasing regulatory stringency around emissions and
environmental stewardship, and provides a platform for
CEMEX’s participation in the emissions-trading market.
• Participation in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and
other market-driven emissions-reduction programs provides
a cost-effective option to distinguish CEMEX’s GHG reduction
efforts.
• Due to CEMEX’s strong sustainability performance, we were
selected to become part of the new Sustainability Index of
the Mexican Stock Exchange (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores)
along with other high-performing companies.
reducing the ecological footprint
of our production process
Our carbon strategy helps us take a broad view of the impacts
associated with concrete production. To reduce our direct
emissions, we focus on curbing our reliance on carbon-intensive
inputs—such as fossil fuels and clinker—and replacing
them with more sustainable alternatives. This process not only
presents immediate environmental benefits; it also enables
CEMEX to diversify its supply chain as traditional fuels and
feedstocks become scarcer and more costly. In a complementary
effort to reduce our CO2 emissions, we continue to increase
the use of alternative raw materials to reduce the clinker
usage in cement production. In addition, we are able to reduce
our indirect emissions by sourcing clean, renewable energy
wherever possible. Furthermore, we continue to develop and
implement carbon reduction projects such as CDM’s, that allow
for additional optimization of our footprint.
carbon emissions in context
For more than 200 years, advances in human industrial and agricultural
activities have contributed to increased concentrations of greenhouse
gases—namely carbon dioxide—in the Earth’s atmosphere. Today, climate
change and many forms of environmental degradation are understood
to have strong linkages to the burning of coal and fossil fuels, as well as
deforestation. Understanding the environmental challenges we face and
responding with decisive actions are matters of paramount importance
for people and societies everywhere. At CEMEX, these imperatives influence
many aspects of our business operations and strategic planning.
The production of cement is a particularly carbon-intensive process,
requiring high temperature sintering of limestone, clay, and iron oxide to
create clinker—the base material for cement. This heating process takes
place in large rotary kilns that reach temperatures over 1,400˚C (2,500˚F)
to catalyze proper chemical reactions. Both the fuel requirements of
our kilns and these reaction processes, themselves, result in significant
releases of CO2 into the atmosphere. In fact, the cement industry as a
whole represents 5% of all carbon emissions associated with human activity—an
issue that has spurred widespread effort to reduce the carbon
footprint of cement production.
Despite the nature of our manufacturing processes, we do not feel
that our environmental and economic priorities are at odds with one
another. Instead, CEMEX has made ongoing, concerted efforts to reduce
the carbon intensity of its operations and equip customers with tools
to understand the full life-cycle impacts of materials used in their own
construction projects.
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