Major cement player logs another year of record CO2 emissions cuts

Sources: Cemex S.A.B. de C.V., Monterrey, Mexico; CMCM staff

Along with solid 2022 financials, Cemex reports a 4.6 percent year over year reduction in carbon dioxide emissions tied to its global cement, aggregate and ready mixed concrete operations, compounding a record 4.4 percent cut achieved in 2021. Under Future in Action, a program unveiled in 2020, the producer is methodically improving carbon metrics throughout this decade. Progress on the benchmark metric, net kilograms of CO₂ per ton of cementitious material, is indicated in last year’s figure: 564 kg versus 571 kg the prior year, both against a 1990 baseline of 800 kg/ton. Future in Action envisions 430 kg/ton by 2030. 

Cemex management views the use of alternative fuels in cement production as key to sustaining the 2021-22 momentum in carbon dioxide emissions reduction. A demonstration of hydrogen fuel at the producer’s Tepeaca cement plant stands to lower CO2 metrics for 2023 and beyond.

“Since the introduction of Future in Action, we have reduced emissions by approximately 9 percent, a [figure] that in the past took us more than a decade to achieve,” says Cemex CEO Fernando González. 

With nearly 90 millions tons’ of cement production capacity in Americas, Europe and Middle East markets, the company is committed to achieving carbon neutrality through relentless innovation and industry-leading research and development, he adds. Cemex likewise remains at the forefront of the circular economy in the construction value chain—pioneering ways to increase the use of waste and residues as alternative raw materials and fuels in its operations.

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