Climate neutral in the future
Dear Readers, The building materials industry, and above all the cement and lime industries, are taking their responsibilities seriously and are intensively looking at ways of reducing CO2 emissions. At its general meeting this year, the German Lime Association (BVK) clearly outlined how the transformation to climate-neutral lime production can be achieved and what is needed to achieve this. And it has already begun to successfully place this content with relevant decision-makers (see article p. 22). VDZ (Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e.V.) also presented its roadmap at VDZ’s annual cement conference in November 2022.
In its annual press briefing, the Wietersdorfer Group highlighted that a total of € 20 million has been invested in green transformation projects in 2022 (article p. 26). “We know that our ambitious goal of CO2 neutrality can only be partially achieved with existing knowledge. We have to find new ways and solutions,” says Michael Junghans, CEO of the Wietersdorfer Group.
Part of the solution to climate neutrality for the cement industry is based on reducing the clinker factor. This largely relies on waste products from other industries. A good example is blast furnace slag for blast furnace slag cement. However, the steel industry is also working on new production routes in order to be able to produce in a climate-neutral way by 2050 at the latest. This will also change the composition and quantity of the slag, which in turn will have an impact on the cements to be produced in the future.
To sum up: we are living in a challenging but also interesting time that demands new and fast solutions, in which suppliers of sustainable solutions and climate-neutral products will be ahead of the game.
I hope you enjoy reading this issue
Dr. Petra Strunk
Editor-in-Chief
