In CERENA's 20 years seminar series, this month, Professor Moisés Pinto receives Engineer Ângela Serra Nunes (Head of CIND (Innovation and Product Development Center) at Secil S. A – Companhia Geral de Cal e Cimento) talk about "The challenges of carbon dioxide abatement in the cement and concrete industry".

The production of clinker, the main active ingredient of cement, is carried out by firing limestone and other minerals at very high temperatures, leading to decarbonation reactions with the emission of CO2. The cement industry, the second-largest industrial CO2 emitter, produces about 7% of global CO2 emissions. The cement industry emission is also the main contributing factor to the environmental footprint of the construction sector. Yet, to achive most of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the construction sector needs to increase the construction rate to build the required infrastructures to achieve the SDGs targets on time. The challenge to equilibrate the increasing cement demand and the abatement of the CO2 emissions requires setting up a series of concerted strategies for the cement industry sector.

We will present the research carried out at SECIL and CERENA to address this challenge. Among the possible strategies, the carbon capture using adsorption technologies is gaining considerable attention. Together with SECIL, we have been assessing the implementation of adsorbents based on natural clays in cement plants. Another complementary strategy has been the implementation of alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels in the klin.